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THE  PAST 

AND  THE 

FUTURE  OF  BELGIUM 


BY 

ALBERT   J.    CARNOY 

PROFESSOR   AT  THE  UNIVERSITIES  OF  LOU  VAIN  (BELGIUM)  AND  CALIFORNIA 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA- 

.•.  r 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


Xlbc  1kn(cf?erbocf?er  press 

NEW    YORK 
1919 


-'   -?    /«  •- 


-a5j29 


Copyright,  1919 

BY 

ALBERT  J.  CARNOY 


TCbe  ftnfcfterbocher  press,  Dew  ^rft 


0/OOf      (i>33G 


— '    I  1 

5  ?.  T 


PREFACE 

Belgium  has  been  placed  in  special  prominence  by  her 
situation  at  the  center  of  the  greatest  fight  in  history  and 
by  her  noble  attitude  during  a  long  period  of  indescribable 
sufferings.  Many  a  name  of  her  cities  and  villages  has 
been  associated  for  ever  with  deeds  of  glory  or  shame. 
Many  a  name  of  her  sons  has  been  added  to  the  list  of 
heroes  who  have  suffered  for  ideals  dear  to  mankind,  The 
German  intrigues  as  well  as  the  discussions  at  the  Peace 
Conference  have  acquainted  the  whole  world  with  special 
aspects  of  Belgian  nationality  and  Belgian  politics.  But  all 
this  has  been  very  fragmentary  information,  and  numerous 
are  the  persons  in  America  who  have  the  most  friendly 
interest  for  Belgiimi  but  know  very  little  of  that  country, 
her  aspects,  her  inhabitants,  the  essential  facts  of  her 
history,  the  main  features  of  her  national  character. 

Particulars  as  to  the  amount  of  destruction  wrought  by 
the  Germans  and  about  the  part  played  by  Belgium  in  the 
war  are  also  very  desirable;  but  above  all,  in  connection  with 
the  restoration  of  the  country  and  with  its  future,  it  will 
be  helpful  to  provide  reliable  and  clear  information  to  all 
those  who  may  come  in  contact  with  a  nation  that  has  now 
indelible  bonds  of  friendship  with  the  United  States.  Both 
countries  will  remain  associated  during  the  period  of  re- 
construction and  it  is  desirable  that  they  know  one  another. 

This  is  the  idea  which  has  inspired  the  present  booklet 
which  in  a  condensed  form  treats  of  Belgium,  her  glorious 
past,  her  ideals,  her  part  in  the  war,  her  problems  in  the 
near  future,  her  possibilities,  her  place  in  the  new  world. 

3 


Belgium    before   the    War 


THE  COUNTRY 

*'  On  a  map  of  Europe  of  ordinary  size,  Bel^um  is  scarcely 
more  than  a  spot,  and  one  often  cannot  help  admiring  the 
skill  displayed  by  some  geographers  in  placing,  on  so  small 
a  space,  the  seven  letters  of  the  name.  The  territory  of 
Belgium  covers  only  about  ^\»  as  much  of  the  earth's 
surface  as  the  United  States — Alaska  included.  A  com- 
parison with  regard  to  population,  however,  produces  a 
different  impression.  The  United  States  has  only  fourteen 
times  as  many  inhabitants  as  Belgium  which  in  191 4  had 
7,425,784  people  on  an  area  of  11,373  square  miles,  or  652 
to  the  square  mile.  This  remarkable  proportion  exceeds 
that  of  any  other  country,  and  since,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  number  of  people  in  the  cities  compared  to  the  rural 
population  is  smaller  than  in  England  and  in  Holland,  one 
may  infer  that  the  Belgian  countryside  is  probably  the 
most  densely  populated  in  the  world.  Now,  it  is  certainly 
surprising  that  in  spite  of  such  a  condition  there  is  scarcely 
any  emigration  from  Belgium.  Hardly  more  than  15,000 
persons  a  year  leave  the  little  kingdom  to  settle  in  one  of 
the  neighboring  countries,  mostly  in  France,  and  these 
losses  are  largely  replaced  by  an  influx  from  France,  Hol- 
land, and  Germany.  The  death  rate  and  birth  rate  coin- 
cide approximately  with  those  of  England,  the  Flemish 
districts  having  however  more  births  than  the  Wallonian 
section. 


Another  compensation  for  the  very  limited  area  is  to 
be  found  in  the  great  variety  of  the  geographical  character 
of  the  country. 

Along  the  shore  of  the  North  Sea  stretches  a  belt  of 
white  dunes  where  tiny  fishing  villages  are  hidden  in  the 
sandy  valleys  or  pannes.  In  one  of  these  valleys  (La  Panne) 
stands  the  villa  where  the  King  and  Queen  took  refuge 
during  the  war.  Behind  these  sand  ramparts  lie  great 
meadows,  the  "polders";  these  are  lower  than  the  sea  at 
high  tide,  and  since  Roman  times  have  been  a  choice  graz- 
ing ground  for  cattle.  Beyond  these,  again,  and  to  the 
south  comes  the  "Campine,"  a  flat  sandy  district.  This 
was  originally  an  arid,  heather-grown  country,  but  it  has 
been  reclaimed  by  the  Flemings,  and  in  some  places, 
notably  around  Ghent  and  Antwerp,  their  perseverance  has 
turned  it  into  an  excellent  garden-land.  In  the  center  of 
Belgium  is  a  clay  soil  which  is  extremely  fertile,  especially 
in  the  district  of  Hesbaye.  Formerly  it  was  thickly  wooded 
with  oaks  and  beeches,  of  which  the  Forest  of  Soigne  is 
a  remnant.  Now  the  woods  are  replaced  almost  entirely 
by  fields  of  corn  and  beets.  Southern  Belgium  belongs 
to  an  earlier  geological  period  than  the  northern  districts. 
It  is  a  region  of  carboniferous  limestone,  celebrated  for  its 
quarries,  and  even  more  for  its  coal  mines,  which  reach 
from  the  French  frontier  to  the  country  around  Lidge.  And 
lastly  there  are  the  mountains  of  the  Ardennes  with  their 
wooded  plateaus  and  their  deep  and  sinuous  valleys. 
This  part  of  Belgium  is  the  most  picturesque  and  the  least 
populous. 

The  towns  and  villages  vary  in  appearance  in  the  different 
regions.  In  the  north,  in  Flanders,  one  finds  high  bell-towers 
and  steeples,  pointed  gables,  and  gay  coloring,  whether 
it  be  of  the  red  brick  in  the  towns,  or  of  the  red  tiled  roofs 
and  green  shutters  of  the  little  white  village  houses.  The 
towns  in  the  center  of  the  country  look  modem  and  pros- 

6 


perous.  In  the  Ardennes  any  human  habitations  seem 
lost  in  the  valleys,  almost  undistinguishable  from  the  blue- 
gray  of  the  rocks,  because  they  are  built  of  similar  colored 
stones. 

HISTORY 

The  kingdom  of  Belgium  was  formed  from  these  various 
regions  in  1830,  but  the  ties  which  hold  the  diflerent  prov- 
inces together  date  from  a  much  earlier  time.  In  the 
Middle  Ages,  when  the  country  was  still  divided  into 
counties  and  duchies,  held  in  part  by  France  and  in  part 
by  the  Empire,  there  was  already  a  dawning  of  common 
interests  and  of  national  feeling.  Belgium  was  as  it  were 
the  crossroads  of  Europe.  Here  the  products  of  the  north 
and  of  the  south  met,  and  here  the  ideas,  the  art,  and  the 
literature  of  France  and  the  Mediterranean  countries  found 
their  way  among  the  Teutonic  peoples.  As  a  consequence 
the  merchant  and  artisan  classes  became  influential,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  towns  became  powerful  as  trading  cen- 
ters; and  breaking  away  from  the  bonds  of  feudalism, 
formed  themselves  into  independent  democratic  com- 
munities. Their  love  of  independence  was  intensely  felt 
and  expressed  in  1^2  in  the  Battle  of  Courtrai,  at  which 
time  the  people  overthrew  the  feudal  power  of  France; 
and  again,  this  spirit  of  freedom  was  reasserted  in  the 
Hundred  Years'  War — when  the  communities  of  Flanders 
combined  under  the  leadership  of  Jacques  van  Artevelde 
and  claimed  a  political  life  of  their  own.  The  University 
of  Louvain,  founded  in  1423,  formed  a  moral  and  intellec- 
tual center  for  these  provinces.  The  Dukes  of  Burgundy 
succeeded  in  uniting  the  Netherland  provinces  politically. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  they  fought  as  a  body  for  their 
liberty  and  independence,  which  were  threatened  by  Philip  II 
of  Spain,  who  had  inherited  the  provinces  from  his  father, 

7 


the  Emperor  Charles  V.  This  revolution,  in  which  rehgious 
differences  complicated'  the  political  situation,  ended  in 
the  secession  of  the  northern  provinces,  which  formed  a 
prosperous  repubHc,  the  Republic  of  the  Netherlands.  This 
democratic  community  fostered  the  Calvinistic  religion. 
The  southern  provinces,  on  the  other  hand,  were  recon- 
quered by  Spain.  They  remained  faithful  to  Catholicism, 
and  from  then  on  began  a  life  of  their  own.  These  Cath- 
olic Netherlands  were  destined  to  become  the  present 
Belgium. 

In  1715  the  country  fell  to  Austria  by  right  of  succession. 
Under  this  rule  the  Belgians  persistently  defended  their 
liberty  and  defiantly  fought  against  the  t^Tanny  of  Maria 
Theresa  and  the  schemes  of  Joseph  II.  At  last,  they  re- 
volted and  formed  an  independent  state,  "The  Republic 
of  the  United  States  of  Belgium."  All  the  institutions  of 
the  Burgundian  times  were  revived,  and  the  new  nation 
adopted  a  federal  constitution  not  unlike  that  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  But  the  independence  of  the 
Belgium  Republic  was  soon  smothered  by  the  armies  of 
Austria  and  France.  The  French,  however,  were  well 
received,  but  under  the  influence  of  the  extreme  revolu- 
tionar}^  party  they  established  a  regime  which  was  antago- 
nistic to  the  Belgian  love  for  moderation.  Certain  local 
uprisings,  known  as  the  "Peasant  Wars,"  protested  against 
the  anti-religious  polic)'  of  the  French  Revolution.  How- 
ever, Napoleon  put  an  end  to  persecution,  reorganized  the 
country,  improved  the  situation  of  Antwerp,  and  succeeded 
in  winning  a  fair  amount  of  popularity  in  Belgium. 

In  iSlj,  the  Congress  of  Vienna  decided  to  reunite  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Netherlands,  and  placed  them  un- 
der the  scepter  of  William  of  Orange.  His  policy,  how- 
ever, was  unfortunate:  he  favored  his  Dutch  subjects  at 
the  expense  of  the  Belgians;  and  the  result  was  a  renewed 
separation  of  the  north  and  the  south.    In  1830  a  revolution 


broke  out  in  Brussels  and  spread  to  most  of  the  Belgian 
towns.  A  temporary  government  was  organized  with  a 
very  liberal  constitution  which  combined  the  local  and 
ancient  communal  liberties  with  the  principles  of  the  French 
Revolution. 

By  this  constitution  the  Belgians  won  liberties  that 
many  a  "free"  nation  might  well  envy:  for  instance,  the 
right  to  hold  political  gatherings,  freedom  of  the  press, 
unrestricted  education,  freedom  of  religion  and  the  right  to 
hold  the  services  of  any  creed  in  public  places,  freedom  of 
speech,  equality  of  every  citizen  before  the  law  ,and  privacy 
of  correspondence. 

Since  1^830  the  trend  of  Belgian  politics  has  been  toward 
increasing  liberty  and  justice.  Two  parties  have  been  con- 
stant rivals,  the  "Catholics,"  or  traditional  evolutionists,  and 
the  "Liberals,"  who  held  the  ideas  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. At  first  there  was  a  cessation  of  party  strife  and  a 
period  of  organization  under  the  minister  Charles  Rogier; 
then  the  Liberals  came  into  power  under  the  lead  of  Fr^re- 
Orban.  In  1879  they  passed  an  education  bill  which  hurt 
the  religious  feelings  of  a  great  part  of  the  population.  In 
1884  there  was  a  reaction  and  the  "Catholic"  party  became 
dominant,  and  has  been  in  power  ever  since. 

In  the  last  thirty  years,  however,  the  party  has  undergone 
a  gradual  evolution.  Side  by  side  with  the  conservative 
element  there  has  grown  up  a  "Young  Right"  with  a 
decidedly  democratic  program.  Together  with  the  Socialist 
party  this  wing  of  the  "CathoHcs"  is  working  for  legisla- 
tion in  favor  of  the  laboring  classes. 

In  this  last  epoch  Belgium  had  a  time  of  great  economic 
prosperity,  due,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  stimulating  and 
enterprising  spirit  of  Leopold  II,  who  encouraged  indus- 
trial expansion.  Leopold  also  made  great  eflorts  to  estab- 
lish a  colony  for  his  country  by  founding  the  Congo  Free 
State,  which  has  since  then  been  taken  over  by  Belgium. 

9 


He  also  contributed  to  the  building  of  the  forts  along  the 
Meuse,  and  to  the  development  of  the  army.  Neverthe- 
less it  was  not  until  191 2  that  universal  service  was  intro- 
duced, and  in  19 14  the  forces  so  raised  were  still  insufficient 
to  repel  an  invasion. 

LANGUAGES  AND  RACES 

When  the  Romans  came  to  Belgium  the  country  was 
inhabited  by  the  Belgae,  a  group  of  Celtic  tribes  related 
to  the  people  of  Gaul  or  France.  These  tribes  put  up  a 
stout  resistance  to  the  armies  of  Cassar  who  paid  due  tribute 
to  their  courage.  "The  bravest  of  all  the  Gauls,"  he  says 
in  his  memoirs,  "are  the  Belgae."  They  finally,  however, 
had  to  give  way,  and,  as  in  other  parts  of  Gaul,  the  Latin 
of  the  conquerors  replaced  the  Celtic  dialects  and  became 
the  prevailing  language  of  the  country. 

From  the  third  century  of  our  era,  the  north  of  Belgiiim, 
which  consists  of  a  vast  plain  offering  no  resistance  to  any 
invader  coming  from  the  Rhine,  was  overrun  by  Germanic 
tribes.  They  devastated  the  country,  took  possession  of 
the  land,  and  then  formed  their  settlements  in  this  desolate 
region.  Of  these  tribes  the  Franks  were  the  best  known. 
By  the  fourth  century  they  were  well  established  in  Flanders 
and  the  Campine,  that  is  in  the  districts  now  inhabited  by 
their  descendants,  the  Flemings.  In  406  a.d.,  the  Frankish 
warriors  appeared  much  farther  south  and  took  possession 
of  the  greater  part  of  Gaul,  which  from  that  time  has  been 
called  France.  Nevertheless  they  did  not  drive  out  the 
Gallo-Romans,  who  lived  on  in  this  country  and  kept  their 
customs  and  speech;  and  from  their  Latin  is  derived  the 
French  language  with  all  its  different  dialects,  notably  Wal- 
loon, which  is  spoken  in  the  south  of  Belgium.  This  southern 
portion  of  the  country,  being  cut  off  from  the  northern 
plains  by  the  "  Foret  Charbonni^re,"  escaped  Germanization. 

10 


Since  this  time,  therefore,  there  have  been  two  languages 
in  Belgium,  the  Flemish  dialects  in  the  north,  which  are 
related  to  Dutch,  the  Wallonian  dialects  in  the  south,  which 
are  akin  to  French. 

Nevertheless,  this  difference  in  speech  has  never  resulted 
in  corresponding  political  divisions.  At  first  the  French 
kingdom  included  both  districts;  then,  when  Charlemagne's 
empire  was  broken  up,  although  the  people  of  Flanders 
retained  and  spoke  the  Flemish  language,  Flanders  never- 
theless remained  a  part  of  the  French  territory.  The 
Wallonian  countries,  however,  such  as  Hainault  and  the 
Principality  of  L\6ge,  along  with  Flemish  Brabant,  became 
part  of  the  Empire.  In  the  County  of  Flanders  there  was 
a  long  struggle  between  the  Frenchified  nobility — "  Leli- 
aerts,"  as  they  were  called,  being  partisans  of  the  Lilies 
of  France — and  the  middle  and  lower  classes — the  "Clau- 
waerts"  who  upheld  the  Lion  of  Flanders  (and  his  claws). 
This  conflict,  however,  was  not  a  disagreement  over  lin- 
guistic differences;  it  was  a  social  and  political  disturbance. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  French 
spread,  even  into  the  Flemish  districts,  and  became  the 
language  of  the  upper  classes.  Notwithstanding  this  an 
important  Flemish  literature  developed  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries. 

In  the  religious  wars  the  Walloons  formed  the  "Mal- 
content" party  and  helped  Spain  to  reconquer  the  southern 
provinces  of  the  Netherlands.  After  this  most  of  the 
Flemish  literary  men  withdrew  into  the  Dutch  Republic, 
and  French  gradually  became  the  language  of  literary 
and  court  circles,  the  prevailing  language  of  Belgium. 
This  situation  reached  its  climax  under  the  French 
rule  of  Napoleonic  times.  During  the  few  years  that 
Belgium  and  Holland  were  united,  William  of  Orange 
insisted  that  in  administrative  affairs  Dutch  should 
be  the  official  language,   and  that  French  should  never 


be  used  in  diplomatic  circles.  The  result  was  a  strong 
reaction .  The  constitution  of  1 830  recognized  both  tongues, 
but  from  then  on  French  was  used  in  the  governmental 
affairs,  in  the  schools,  and  in  the  courts.  Flemish  became 
merely  a  popular  dialect  with  an  archaic  spelling  which 
almost  concealed  its  identity  with  Dutch.  Since  the  mass  of 
the  Flemish  people  felt  themselves  drawn  by  their  habits, 
traditions,  customs,  and  religion  to  the  Walloons  rather 
than  to  the  Dutch,  the  suppression  of  the  Flemish 
language  at  first  excited  no  protest.  The  Flemish  bour- 
geoisie took  especial  pride  in  emphasizing  its  thorough 
"Frenchness."  Nevertheless,  under  the  influence  of  Ro- 
manticism there  was  a  revival  of  Flemish  literature.  Lede- 
ganck's  patriotic  poems  and  Conscience's  historical  novels 
recalled  the  former  glories  of  Flanders  and  taught  the 
Flemings  to  love  their  own  language  and  their  own  country. 
But,  so  long  as  the  middle  classes  alone  had  the  vote,  this 
movement  was  of  no  great  importance.  After  1893  the 
workingmen  and  the  peasants  gained  great  influence,  and 
the  politicians  found  themselves  forced  to  favor,  or  at 
least  appear  to  favor,  the  claims  of  the  "Flamingants," 
whose  ideas  soon  spread  and  made  headway  among  the 
enthusiastic  students  in  the  universities.  Yet,  there  never 
has  been  a  Flemish  political  party,  and  the  matter 
did  not  attract  the  serious  attention  of  the  middle  classes 
till  twenty  years  ago.  The  militant  Flemings  proposed  that 
a  Flemish  university  be  established.  This  plan  was  stub- 
bornly opposed,  especially  by  the  middle  classes  in  Flanders. 
This  proves  clearly  that  there  is  no  question  of  freeing  an 
oppressed  nation,  but  rather  a  case  of  social  evolution. 
The  same  conclusion  might  be  drawn  concerning  the  avowed 
hostility  to  Flemish  things  of  the  feminine  element  in  Bel- 
gium, because  the  women  are  attached  to  the  French  con- 
ception of  social  life  and  to  French  fashion.  The  Flemings 
proclaim  that  their  aim  is  to  tear  down  the  barriers  between 


the  educated  classes  and  the  f)opulace,  barriers  which  are 
largely  due  to  the  difference  in  language.  But  they  have 
never  for  one  moment  let  their  program  become  con- 
fused with  that  of  the  Pan-Gennans.  The  Belgians  of 
Gennan  birth  worked  against  the  Flemings,  and  it  was 
only  in  1915  that  it  occurred  to  the  Germans  to  use  the 
Flemish  movement  as  a  means  of  sowing  dissension 
among  the  Belgians.  They  decided  to  make  without  delay 
a  Flemish  university  in  Ghent.  The  chiefs  of  the  "  Flamin- 
gants"  saw  through  their  trap  at  once,  and  refused  to 
associate  themselves  with  the  scheme.  A  few  obscure 
persons  finally  succeeded  in  forming  a  faculty;  and  mean- 
while the  newspapers  and  magazines  in  Germany  spoke 
enthusiastically  of  the  "liberation  of  the  Flemish  people." 
That  being  accomplished,  they  divided  the  administration 
of  Belgium  into  two,  the  Wallonian  section  and  the  Flemish 
section;  and,  finally,  the  so-called  Council  of  Flanders,  com- 
posed of  almost  wholly  unknown  individuals  who  were  sub- 
servient to  the  German  Government,  declared  the  political 
independence  of  the  Flemish  countries.  On  February  18, 
1918,  this  action  was  protested.  Senators  and  deputies  in 
the  occupied  territories,  the  different  district  councils,  and 
even  the  Flemish  societies  and  well-known  people  in  the 
Flemish  region,  emphatically  denounced  the  deceptive  plan 
of  the  Council  of  Flanders.  They  realized  that  these  Prus- 
sianized tools  were  only  "camouflaging"  the  real  issues. 
Hence  the  Court  of  Appeal  in  Brussels  impeached  the  leaders 
of  this  "activist"  movement,  charging  that  they  were  break- 
ing the  law  forbidding  sedition  against  the  established  gov- 
ernment. The  Germans,  however,  put  an  end  to  these 
proceedings  and  deported  three  of  the  judges  to  Germany. 
All  this  tyranny  and  false  representation  could  have  but 
one  result — that  the  Flemings  decided  to  reject  all  outside 
interference  and  to  manage  their  own  affairs  in  reconstruct- 
ing Belgium;  and  the  outlook  for  Belgium,  at  the  present 

13 


time,  is  hopeful  and  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Belgians 
will  solve  their  problems  in  a  way  which  will  put  an  end 
to  the  troubles  of  the  Flemings  at  least  when  the  reaction 
provoked  by  the  action  of  the  "activists"  will  have  abated. 

At  this  moment,  when  every  citizen  is  called  on  to  give 
himself,  body  and  soul,  to  the  building  up  of  his  country, 
the  government  has  realized  that,  if  the  Flemish  patriotic 
enthusiasm  could  be  willingly  and  loyally  given  and  util- 
ized, valuable  services  would  be  rendered  to  their  country. 
Accordingly,  on  the  15th  of  October,  191 8,  the  government 
gave  official  recognition  to  a  commission  established  "to 
introduce  absolute  equality  between  the  two  languages  in 
law  and  in  practice,  without  endangering  the  national  unity," 
and  in  his  inaugural  address  to  the  Chambers  on  the  day 
of  his  "joyous  entry"  into  liberated  Brussels,  the  King 
solemnly  confirmed  this  program. 

NATIONAL  CHARACTER 

Despite  their  differences  of  race  and  language  the  Wal- 
loons and  Flemings  have  many  customs  and  characteristics 
in  common.  Both  have  a  clear  conception  of  the  realities 
of  life.  This  realism  is  revealed  in  their  popular  philosophy, 
in  their  art,  their  manners,  and  their  humor;  and  both 
love  life  too  dearly  to  waste  it  in  useless  regrets  and  vain 
desires:  their  practical  spirit  and  good  common  sense 
help  them  to  smile,  to  make  the  best  of  their  circiunstances, 
to  overcome  their  difficulties,  and  finally  to  use  their  mis- 
takes as  stepping-stones  whereby  they  may  rise  to  higher 
and  greater  and  nobler  things.  Their  feelings  are  vivid 
and  intense — but  not  particularly  refined;  their  vision  is 
accurate,  but  not  far-reaching.  They  ardently  love  their 
home  life,  their  little  coterie  of  friends,  and  even  the  dis- 
trict in  which  they  live.  Both  have  a  horror  of  pretense, 
convention,   and  exaggeration,   and   both   have   a   strong 

14 


sense  of  justice  united  with  a  keen   appreciation   of  the 
rights. 

Besides  these  characteristics,  the  Walloons  have  two 
other  qualities:  a  spirit  of  adaptability  and  an  inexhaustible 
fund  of  gayety.  They  are  cordial,  talkative,  quick,  and 
clever.  The  Flemings  are  less  quick-witted,  but,  when 
they  do  make  up  their  minds,  they  hold  fast  to  their 
opinions.  They  are  somewhat  suspicious,  very  independent, 
and  capable  of  violent  or  concentrated  passions.  Their 
artistic  sense  is  highly  developed.  Being  very  democratic, 
independent,  and  hard  to  bend,  they  are  very  different 
from  the  modern  Germans.  They  are  impulsive  rather 
than  methodical  and  persevering,  sensuous  rather  than 
sentimental,  and,  in  their  expression  of  personality,  they 
are  anything  but  conventional. 

ART  IN  BELGIUM 

Although  the  Belgians  were  influential  in  molding  the 
political  and  economic  evolution  of  Europe,  still  they  are 
better  known,  and  justly  so,  for  the  art  treasures  which 
they  have  added  to  the  artistic  heritage  of  humanity. 

The  Belgians  are  extraordinarily  gifted  artistically,  and 
have  given  many  proofs  of  an  inspiration  both  forceful  and 
original.  In  every  field  of  art  the  same  characteristics 
recur — strong  imagination,  clear  perception,  and  intense 
feeling.  The  Flemings  in  particular  have  a  marked  tend- 
ency to  visualize,  and  consequently  to  materialize  their 
ideas  in  plastic  forms.  They  see  colors  better  than  forms, 
hence  their  best  work  is  done,  not  in  sculpture,  but  in 
painting.  Theirs  is  an  art  which,  along  with  great  sin- 
cerity, shows  a  fine  grasp  of  life  and  essential  details.  Thus 
it  happens  that  the  Flemings  are  often  implacable  realists, 
very  vigorous  and,  at  the  same  time,  excellent  in  doing 
work   which   requires  minute   details.     But   their  intense 

15 


vision,  accompanied  by  a  certain  concentration  of  feeling 
also  draws  them,  to  some  extent  toward  mysticism.  Given 
this  temperament  it  is  only  natural  that  they  should  have 
devoted  themselves  chiefly  to  painting. 

The  Flemish  "primitives,"  such  men  as  the  Van  Eyck 
brothers,  Roger  Van  der  Weyden,  Hans  Memling,  Dierik 
Bouts,  and  others,  are  celebrated  for  the  richness  of  their 
coloring  and  the  charming  realism  with  which  they  have 
expressed  their  mystical  ideas. 

The  influence  of  the  Italian  renaissance  was  not  long  in 
making  itself  felt  in  Flemish  art,  and  its  profound  effect  is 
best  seen  in  the  works  of  Rubens  who  was  the  most  gifted 
and  powerful  interpreter  of  the  Flemings'  intense  love  for 
life  and  color.  Rubens's  successors,  Van  Dyke,  Jordaens, 
Teniers,  all  gave  proof  of  this  same  love  for  life;  and  the 
latter  two  especially  expressed  the  exuberant  vitality  of 
the  Flemish  people.  The  influence  of  this  school  was  still 
felt  in  the  painters  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen- 
turies, who,  though  clever  men,  are  less  well  known. 

The  modem  Belgian  school  has  been  remarkably  active. 
There  is  probably  more  painting  going  on  in  Belgiimi  in 
proportion  to  its  size  than  in  any  other  country.  The 
Flemish  influence  is  still  recognizable,  but  that  of  the 
Paris  schools  is  not  less  so.  Several  periods  can  be  traced 
in  this  movement.  About  1850  the  canvasses  were  vast 
and  the  scenes  represented  were  usually  historical  and  full 
of  movement ;  Leys  and  Wiertz  are  the  best  known  artists 
of  this  theatrical  time,  a  time  of  fine  execution  and  little 
inspiration.  There  followed  a  period  when  genre  painting 
was  in  vogue,  with  interiors  modeled  after  the  manner  of 
the  Dutch  school.  The  great  name  of  this  time  was  De 
Braekeleer.  Soon,  however,  the  idea  of  "art  for  art's 
sake"  arose  and  the  Belgians  were  not  the  least  auda- 
cious of  innovators.  The  movement  is  definitely  towards 
nature.     There  is  a  demand  for  open  air,  for  fields  and 

16 


copses,  for  moonlight  and  sunset  effects,  and  especially  for 
the  color  plays  of  mists  and  clouds.  This  is  the  period  of 
animal  painters,  such  as  Venvee,  of  impressionists  like  Van 
Rysselberghe,  and  of  the  sunny  landscape  of  Claus,  the 
stippler. 

At  the  heyday  of  Flemish  painting,  sculpture  had  not 
yet  arisen  in  Flanders  as  an  independent  art,  but  was 
chiefly  occupied  with  architectural  ornamentation.  The 
flamboyant-Gothic  lacework  found  in  such  profusion  on 
the  churches  and  town  halls  shows  great  technical  ability, 
and  the  statuettes,  intermingled  with  the  arabesques,  are 
often  surprisingly  realistic  in  idea  and  finely  executed  with 
minute  details.  In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centu- 
ries this  talent  found  expression  mainly  in  wood  carving, 
of  which  a  splendid  example  was  the  great  hall  of  the 
library  at  Louvain,  destroyed  when  the  city  was  burnt 
down  in  1914.  It  was  only  in  the  last  few  years  that  real 
sculpture  has  developed  in  Belgium.  Jef  Lambeaux  gave 
much  of  the  Flemish  exuberance  in  his  very  realistic  works, 
but  it  was  left  for  a  Walloon,  Constantin  Meunier,  to  pro- 
duce works  of  the  first  order.  As  is  well  known,  his  statues 
are  of  working  men  in  such  poses  as  illustrate  the  effort  of 
man  and  his  power  in  the  struggle  with  nature. 

Music  also  is  a  Belgian  gift — as  important  and  as  fine 
as  their  art  of  painting.  The  popular  airs  of  the  coun- 
try are  especially  remarkable,  whether  they  be  the  songs 
of  Flanders  with  their  energy  and  sentiment,  or  the  gay 
Wallonian  songs  with  their  lilt  and  sparkle.  Every  village 
has  at  least  one  musical  society  whose  members  often 
show  considerable  talent;  and  even  the  street  singers  are 
often  gifted.  Grdtry  of  Li^ge  is  the  great  Wallonian 
musician,  while  the  Flemings  have  a  good  title  to  claim 
Van  Beethoven  as  one  of  their  own,  since  he  belonged  to  an 
Antwerp  family  although  he  lived  in  Germany.  In  more 
modern  times,  C^sar  Franck  gave  his  genius  to  the  founding 

17 


of  the  French  school.  Peter  Benoit,  Jan  Blockx,  Tinel, 
and  others,  inspired  by  Flemish  energy  and  mysticism, 
wrote  music  which  has  become  deservedly  popular. 

The  visitor  to  Belgium,  though  he  may  pass  through  all 
too  quickly,  will  rank  the  beauties  of  her  churches  and  city 
halls  as  fully  equal  to  those  of  the  pictures  hung  in  her 
museimis.  They  interpret  the  very  soul  of  the  Nether- 
lands. The  pride  of  the  cities  in  their  struggle  for  liberty 
could  not  be  better  expressed  than  in  the  lofty  belfries 
which  seem  to  pierce  to  the  sky,  and  the  rich  ornamenta- 
tion on  the  public  buildings  reveals  the  opulence  of  the 
commvmities  that  built  them;  the  lines  of  the  cathedral 
towers  and  their  arches,  as  it  were  springing  towards  the 
heavens,  the  capriciousness  of  their  stone  lace  work  in 
its  mysterious  designs,  the  exquisite  realism  of  their  sculp- 
ture, all  these  reflect  different  aspects  of  the  old-time  Flem- 
ish mysticism.  Here  again  appears  the  taste  for  flowery 
detail,  and  the  love  for  color  shows  in  the  painted  work 
and  the  robes  of  sacred  statues.  The  result,  to  be  sure,  is 
not  conducive  to  purity  of  line.  There  were,  however,  two 
striking  examples  of  the  ancient  and  more  simple  Flemish 
Gothic  art,  the  markets  of  Ypres  and  the  vaulted  markets  of 
Louvain,  but  both  have  been  destroyed  in  this  war.  The 
renaissance  in  Flanders  produced  a  style  of  architecture 
which  is  graceful  rather  than  imposing,  but  which,  with  its 
pointed  roofs  and  steep  gables,  and  its  contrasts  of  white 
stone  and  red  brick,  is  particularly  well  suited  to  the  country. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  eighteenth-centiiry  rococo,  when 
applied  with  the  usual  Flemish  prodigality,  outdid  its  style 
in  richness  as  witnessed  by  the  church  of  St.  Michael  at 
Louvain  and  by  many  a  highly  decorated  fagade  in  the  great 
square  of  Brussels.  The  classicism  of  the  nineteenth  century 
took  on  a  more  sober  form,  though  still  preserving  no  little 
grace.  Some  of  the  best  examples  of  this  style  are  to 
be  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  park  in  Brussels. 

i8 


But  the  love  for  decoration  ended  in  the  degeneration  of 

the  style,  until  it  produced  such  results  as  the  official  build- 
ings of  the  nineteenth  century  which  are  simply  graceless 
piles  of  stone  covered  with  rather  banal  designs.  In  the 
last  twenty  years  there  has  been  a  salutary  reaction.  The 
classic  style  is  still  in  vogue  for  big  buildings,  but  it  is  now 
more  controlled  and  therefore  purer.  The  churches  and 
even  some  of  the  public  buildings  arc  neo-Gothic.  The 
Palais  de  Justice  in  Brussels  shows  marked  originality.  It 
is  composed  of  motifs  borrowed  from  various  styles,  com- 
bined very  happily  to  produce  a  harmonious  whole.  The 
result  is  imposing,  although  not  very  elegant.  Modem  art, 
with  its  bold  curves  or  cubic  outlines  has  affected  a  large 
number  of  Belgian  architects;  and  the  newer  residence 
quarters  of  the  towns  are  full  of  surprising  fagades — some 
of  which  are  really  beautiful. 

BELGIAN  LITERATURE 

It  has  often  been  said  that  the  Belgian  has  more  gift  for 
art  than  for  literature.  He  has  not  the  Frenchman's 
rapidity  of  conception  nor  his  ease  in  expression.  He  has 
more  humor  than  wit  and  more  feeling  than  ideas.  This, 
however,  only  proves  that  his  gift  is  for  another  kind  of 
literature  than  that  of  the  Frenchman.  For  instance, 
although  he  is  fond  of  comedy,  he  rarely  succeeds  in  writ- 
ing that  kind  of  plays.  His  novels,  which  are  sometimes 
interesting,  generally  have  weak  plots.  Nevertheless  he 
can  tell  a  story  well  and  with  humor.  Froissart  and 
Comines,  the  two  best  mediaeval  historians  who  used  the 
French  language,  were  Walloons.  Though  these  two  wTote 
in  French,  there  was  growing  up  at  that  time  a  Flemish 
literature,  consisting  chiefly  of  moral  and  satirical  poems. 
At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  southern 

19 


provinces  of  the  Netherlands  had  been  reconquered  by 
Spain,  the  Flemish  authors  emigrated  to  Holland;  and  it 
was  there  that  the  tragedian  Vondel  wrote  some  of  his 
greatest  plays.  For  two  centuries  there  were  no  important 
writers,  but  in  the  nineteenth  century  a  reaction  fortu- 
nately set  in.  Some  of  the  moderns  wrote  in  French  and 
some  in  Flemish.  The  Belgian  literature,  written  in  the 
French  language,  dates  principally  from  1880;  and  it  shows 
the  influence  of  the  group  known  as  "Young  Belgium." 
The  novelists,  of  this  time,  men  like  Camille  Lemonnier 
and  Georges  Eeckhoud,  wrote  in  a  vigorous  and  realistic 
style:  a  mode  of  expression,  which,  with  its  fervid  and 
ardent  sincerity,  its  persuading  and  convincing  power, 
seems  to  have  reached  its  climax  in  the  works  of  those 
robust  personalities;  the  poets,  however,  George  Roden- 
bach,  Edmund  Le  Roy,  Charles  Van  Lerberghe,  Max 
Elskamp,  and  Albert  Mockel  were  symbolists.  The  last 
named  of  these,  as  editor  of  the  magazine  La  Wallonie, 
exerted  a  great  influence  over  the  symbolist  movement  in 
France  as  well  as  in  Belgium.  But  of  the  whole  group, 
the  best  known  names  are  those  of  Maurice  Maeterlinck 
and  Emil  Verhaeren,  the  former  of  whom  has  won  a  world- 
wide reputation  by  his  plays  and  his  philosophic  studies.  He 
has  tried  to  explain  the  subconscious  and  mysterious  side 
of  the  human  soul.  Emil  Verhaeren,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  written  forceful  poems  which  glorify  labor  and  the 
ideals  of  the  modern  world.  Flemish  literature  is  devoted 
to  its  native  land,  singing  of  the  glorious  past  of  Flan- 
ders, and  calling  on  the  Flemings  to  remain  loyal  to  their 
own  language  and  their  traditions.  The  novelist  Con- 
science is  the  most  popular  of  Flemish  writers.  Quite 
recently  the  lyric  poetry  of  Guido  Gezelle  and  the  novels 
of  Stijn  Streuvels  (F.  Latteur)  have  by  their  originality 
and  their  very  real  excellence  called  attention  to  this  litera- 
ture which  is  growing  very  important  in  Belgitun. 


SCIENCE  IN  BELGIUM 

The  Belgian  love  of  art  goes  hand  in  hand  with  a  taste 
for  science. 

Until  the  fifteentli  century  the  Netherlands  had  no  fa- 
mous schools;  students  went  to  Paris  or  Bologna.  In  1425, 
just  as  the  Belgian  provinces  were  being  united  under  the 
rule  of  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  the  University  of  Louvain 
was  founded,  and  since  then  it  has  been  the  intellectual 
center  of  the  country.  A  number  of  books  were  printed 
there  from  1470  on,  in  the  press  of  John  of  Westphalia. 
These  books  fonned  the  foundation  of  the  fine  collection 
which  was  destroyed  when  the  library  of  Louvain  was 
burned  down  in  1914.  After  1502  Louvain,  thanks  to  the 
fame  of  Erasmus,  became  the  meeting  place  for  classical 
scholars  in  northern  Europe,  especially  when  the  "Three 
Languages  College"  was  started;  it  then  became  famous 
through  its  scholars,  Barthelemy  Masson,  whom  Francois 
I  made  head  of  the  "College  de  France,"  Jan  Bosche 
who  went  to  Paderborn,  and  Justus  Lipsius  who  added 
luster  to  the  University  of  Leyden  and  then  returned 
to  his  Alma  Mater.  Louvain  scholars  attained  celebrity 
in  various  fields.  Vesalius  founded  the  modern  school  of 
anatomy,  Mudaeus  introduced  the  methode  elegante  of  inter- 
preting Roman  law;  Jansenius,  Baius,  and  other  theolo- 
gians had  much  influence  on  the  evolution  of  ideas  in 
the  seventeenth  century;  Alinckeleers  experimented  and 
worked  out  a  method  of  utilizing  gas  as  a  means  of  illumi- 
nation. Hagiography  became  a  science  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Jesuits;  and  one  of  the  order,  a  Belgian  named 
Bolland,  started  the  immense  collection  of  Lives  of  Saitits 
which  his  disciples  are  still  publishing  at  Brussels.  There 
were  many  names  during  the  nineteenth  century  which 
brought  honor  to  Belgian  science,  but  this  is  not  the  place 
to  list  them.     Nevertheless,  it  is  fitting  that  the  following 


should  be  mentioned — Gevaert  and  F^tis,  universally  known 
as  historians  of  music,  the  psychologist  Delboeuf ,  the  jurist 
Nys,  celebrated  for  his  works  on  international  law,  the 
geologist  Andr^  Dumont,  the  mathematician  de  la  Valine 
Poussin,  the  biologists  Van  Beneden  and  J.  B.  Camoy, 
the  philologists  Willems  and  de  Hariez,  the  historian  Kurth, 
the  economist  Waxweiler,  and  the  philosopher  Cardinal 
Mercier. 

SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  INSTITUTIONS 

It  has  been  said  already  that  the  government  which 
Belgium  gave  herself  in  1830  is  one  of  the  most  liberal  in 
all  Europe,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  monarchy.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  the  king  is  "King  of  the  Bel- 
gians," not  "King  of  Belgiimi."  All  his  power  is  given 
him  by  the  nation  and  he  has  not  one  right  that  has  not 
been  granted  to  him  by  the  constitution.  He  swears  to 
"Obey  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  Belgian  people, 
to  maintain  national  independence,  and  to  keep  the  coun- 
try's territory  inviolate."  His  powers  are  the  right  to 
call  together  and  to  dissolve  the  Chambers,  to  command 
the  army,  to  declare  war,  to  make  treaties  for  peace,  for 
alliance,  and  for  commerce,  and  to  grant  pardons.  He  acts 
generally  through  his  ministers  who,  though  appointed  by 
him,  are  responsible  to  the  Chambers.  Nevertheless,  the 
Belgian  kings  have  had  a  real  influence  in  molding  the 
destiny  of  their  country,  but  it  has  been  altogether  due  to 
their  personal  character. 

In  Belgium  there  is  no  privilege  given  to  birth,  the  Senate 
and  the  House  of  Representatives  both  being  elected. 
There  are,  it  is  true,  certain  differences  in  the  forms  of  the 
summons  to  attend  the  sittings,  and  the  sufiErage  rights  of 
the  citizens  are  not  all  alike,  but  these  variations  are  not 
in  any  way  based  on  hereditary  privileges. 


Up  to  1893  a  citizen,  before  he  could  vote,  must  have 
paid  a  certain  sum  in  taxes  to  the  state.  This  custom  was  a 
relic  of  the  middle-class  democracy  which  was  established  in 
France  and  Belgium  in  1830.  The  Liberal  party,  which 
looked  for  its  support  to  the  bourgeoisie  of  the  towns,  and 
which  had  preserved  much  of  the  viewpoint  of  1830,  hesi- 
tated to  introduce  universal  suffrage.  Moreover  the  idea 
was  repugnant  to  the  Belgian  mind  which  is  no  friend  of 
extremist  measures.  So  the  plan  proposed  by  Professor 
Nyssens  was  adopted,  which  brought  in  a  modified  form  of 
universal  suffrage  arranged  to  give  preponderance  to  the 
more  intelligent  and  thoughtful  of  the  population  and  to 
those  who  would  have  the  most  interest  in  seeing  that  the 
public  affairs  were  well  managed.  This  system,  known  as 
the  "plural  vote,"  gave  one  vote  to  every  citizen  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  two  additional  votes  to  college  graduates, 
one  additional  vote  to  married  men  at  least  thirty-five 
years  old,  and  one  additional  vote  to  each  person  owning 
his  home.  The  maximum  number  of  votes  allowed 
was  three.  This  plan  succeeded  in  slightly  reducing 
the  influence  of  the  common  workers,  massed  in  the  in- 
dustrial centers,  who  it  was  feared  might  exercise  a  real 
tyranny  in  the  land,  because  they  were  uneducated  and 
very  easily  swayed  by  the  politicians.  The  "plural  vote" 
system  was  thus  inspired  by  very  sane  democratic  ideals, 
but  unfortunately  it  looked  like  a  privilege  accorded  to  the 
upper  classes,  and  it  was  so  complex  that  the  people  sus- 
pected it.  Thus  the  abolition  of  this  system  became  the 
platform  for  opposition  parties.  To  put  an  end  to  this 
cause  of  dissension  at  this  time,  when  complete  union  of  all 
parties  is  necessary  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  country. 
King  Albert,  in  his  address  to  Parliament  on  the  21st  of 
last  November,  states  that  his  government  is  prepared 
to  introduce  equal  suffrage. 

Notwithstanding   the   privileges   of   the    "plural    vote" 

23 


the  universal  suffrage  of  1892  did  away  almost  entirely 
with  the  Liberal  party,  and  favored  both  the  Catholics, 
supported  by  the  Flemish  peasantry,  and  the  Socialists, 
elected  by  the  workmen  in  the  Wallonian  country. 
This  situation  facilitated  the  establishment  of  propor- 
tional representation.  Since  then  the  country  has  been 
divided  into  great  electoral  districts,  each  of  which 
elects  a  large  number  of  representatives.  These  are  distri- 
buted between  the  different  parties  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  votes  they  receive.  In  this  way  no  vote  is 
lost.  The  Liberal  and  Socialist  minorities  in  Flanders, 
and  the  Liberal  and  Catholic  minorities  in  the  Walloon 
districts  have  been  represented  since  then.  This  arrange- 
ment prevents  passing  opinions  from  having  any  decisive 
influence  on  the  composition  of  the  parliament,  and  gives 
great  stability  to  the  various  parties.  Elections  become 
more  a  test  of  party  strength  than  an  opportunity  for  the 
mass  of  the  people  to  participate  actively  and  directly  in 
the  government.  This  system  is  the  open  recognition  of  a 
state  of  affairs  which  has  been  growing  up  in  many  modern 
democracies. 

The  secrecy  of  the  ballot  is  rigorously  preserved  and  a 
law,  providing  that  every  citizen  must  vote,  is  a  guarantee 
that  the  election  will  not  be  falsified  by  the  withholding 
of  votes. 

Such  is  the  procedure  in  the  election  of  the  members  of 
the  Chamber  of  Representatives.  The  Senate  was  destined 
by  those  who  formed  the  constitution  in  1830  to  be  a  con- 
servative body  occupied  in  amending  the  bills  put  before 
it  by  the  other  Chamber.  Consequently  it  was  stipulated 
that  Senators  could  only  be  elected  from  among  citizens 
who  were  at  least  forty  years  of  age,  and  who  also  paid  a 
considerable  sum  in  taxes  to  the  state.  The  electors  must 
be  thirty  years  old;  otherwise  the  electoral  body  is  similar 
to  the  one  which  chooses  the  Chamber  of  Representatives. 

24 


The  Provincial  Councils  elect  senators  whom  they  choose 
without  regard  to  the  taxes  they  pay.  These  councils  are 
to  be  found  in  every  district,  looking  out  for  the  interests 
of  that  part  of  the  country;  they  have  no  particular  im- 
portance in  general  politics,  but  as  they  have  control  of 
the  provincial  funds  they  are  very  powerful  locally.  They 
elect  a  "Deputation  Pennanente"  who,  along  with  the 
Governors  chosen  by  the  King,  administer  the  finances  and 
supervise  the  decisions  of  the  Communal  Councils.  These 
latter  are  'independently  elected  by  the  communes,  both 
by  the  towns  and  villages.  So  there  are  no  "County 
Councils"  in  Belgium.  The  autonomy  of  the  communes 
is  carried  very  far;  it  is  indeed  a  relic  of  the  old  time 
liberties  granted  by  the  Netherlands.  The  burgomasters 
(maires),  although  nominated  by  the  King  (i.  e.,  the  min- 
isters), are  really  chosen  by  the  communes,  through  a 
majority  vote  of  the  Communal  Council,  which  forms  a 
little  parliament  looking  after  the  doings  of  the  aldermen 
and  managing  the  municipal  treasury. 

In  common  with  the  communal  officials  the  administra- 
tors of  justice  have  a  great  measure  of  independence.  The 
Belgian  judges  have  a  well-deserved  name  for  probity 
and  impartiality,  and  their  attitude  during  the  German 
occupation  of  the  country  was  worthy  of  their  reputation. 
The  members  of  the  "Cour  de  Cassation"  (Supreme  Court) 
and  of  the  Courts  of  Appeal  are  chosen  from  candidates 
presented  by  the  Chambers  and  by  the  courts  of  justice 
themselves.  All  the  judges  are  Doctors  of  Law;  their 
appointment  is  permanent  and  their  salaries  fixed  by  law. 
These  last  two  facts  make  them  quite  independent  of  the 
government.  The  creating  of  exceptional  courts  is  for- 
bidden. Criminal  questions  are  solved  in  the  Assize  Courts 
where  a  jury  decides  on  the  guilt  of  the  accnised. 

The  police  is  under  the  control  of  the  parish  authorities 
but  the  gendarmerie  is  a  state  police  force  especially  charged 

25 


to  patrol  the  country  districts  and  to  serve  the  magistrates. 
In  the  army  the  gendarmerie  forms  a  picked  corps. 

Belgium  was  the  first  country  in  Europe  to  introduce  the 
system  of  solitary  confinement.  The  prison  at  Ghent  was 
built  in  1835  after  the  model  of  the  Philadelphia  Peniten- 
tiary. In  1888  the  systems  of  probation  and  parole  were  in- 
troduced. Since  then  children's  courts  have  been  established. 

In  the  domain  of  public  instruction,  Belgium  is  chiefly 
concerned  in  protecting  the  freedom  of  the  paterfamilias. 
Compulsory  primary  education  was  only  introduced  at  a 
very  late  date;  hence  the  number  of  illiterates  in  Belgium 
is  greater  than  in  the  neighboring  countries,  though  the 
situation  is  improving  all  the  time.  There  are  official 
schools,  built  by  the  communes  with  the  help  of  the  state, 
and  private  schools.  The  government  subsidy  since  1913 
has  been  divided  between  the  schools,  public  and  private, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  their  pupils  and  without 
reference  to  their  confessional  or  unconfessional  character. 
This  is  a  compromise  arranged  to  put  an  end  to  a  long- 
standing quarrel  between  the  Catholics,  who  wished  to 
retain  religious  instruction  as  a  part  of  the  public  school 
program,  and  the  Liberal  party,  whose  idea  was  to  suppress 
all  such  instruction  and  to  refuse  the  state  subsidy  to 
private  and  communal  schools. 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  Belgium  has  developed 
an  important  labor  legislation.  The  employment  of  women 
and  children  in  factories  has  been  regulated;  the  number  of 
hours  in  the  working  day  has  been  limited;  minimum  wages 
have  been  introduced;  the  state  has  organized  an  old-age 
pension  scheme;  employers'  responsibility  in  case  of  accident 
has  been  regulated  by  law;  a  working  man's  insurance  act, 
providing  for  cases  of  sickness  and  lack  of  employment, 
has  been  adopted.  Belgium  has  abandoned  the  laissez- 
faire  principle  without  falling  into  the  German  extreme  of 
state  interference;  the  old  methods  of  saving  have   been 

26 


retained  but  have  been  embodied  in  a  system  of  insurance 

controlled  by  the  state.  But  the  most  interesting  of  these 
social  laws  is  one  relating  to  the  housing  problem,  which 
was  introduced  by  M.  Beernaert  in  1889.  Not  only  does 
it  tend  to  do  away  with  slums  but  it  allows  the  work- 
ing man  to  become  the  owner  of  his  house,  which  he 
rents  from  the  company,  by  paying  a  small  sum  each 
month  which  includes  the  cost  of  the  real  estate,  the 
paying  off  of  capital  and  an  insurance.  In  this  way, 
by  paying  yearly  installments  of  about  7.5%  of  the 
value  of  the  house,  he  may  own  it  in  twenty-five  years. 
Thanks  to  the  insurance,  should  he  die  before  the  end  of 
the  time,  his  family  will  come  into  possession  of  the  real 
estate.  Because  of  this  law  and  the  low  charges  for  build- 
ing and  low  rents,  the  Belgian  laborer  is,  as  Mr.  Rowntree 
says,  one  of  the  best  housed  workman  in  the  world. '  This 
situation  has  been  still  further  improved  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  season  tickets  on  the  railroads,  which  allows  the 
workmen  to  be  employed  in  town  while  living  in  the  villages 
where  they  can  keep  small  farms.  Their  families  have  all 
the  advantages  of  fresh  air  and  the  increased  income  from 
the  cultivation  of  their  small  property.  In  this  way,  too,  the 
workman  if  thrown  out  of  work  is  not  so  completely  at  a 
loss  as  if  he  were  in  town.  The  condition  of  the  Belgian 
working  man  is  thus  far  better  than  would  seem  possible 
considering  the  low  rate  of  wages.  Moreover,  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  these  wages  is  greater  than  might  have 
been  expected  because  the  cost  of  living  has  always  been  very 
low.  In  fact,  the  rate  of  saving  in  Belgium  was,  in  191 1, 
thirty-six  dollars  per  head,  as  against  twenty-three  dollars 
per  head  in  England.  However,  there  are  still  great 
advances  to  be  made  along  this  line,  especially  in  Flanders, 
but  the  growing  strength  of  the  trades-unions  indicates 
that  great  improvements  will  be  made.  The  peasantry 
'  Rowntree,  Land  and  Labour.     Lessons  from  Belgium,  p.  458. 

27 


are  better  off  than  the  town  laborers.  Certain  agricultural 
associations  known  as  boerenbonden  have  grown  up.  These 
associations  make  wholesale  purchases,  rent  farm  machines 
and  draft  horses  to  the  small  farmers,  establish  coopera- 
tive dairies,  and  organize  agricultural  instruction  in  the 
country  districts.  In  short  these  boerenbonden  allow  the 
small  holder  to  enjoy  the  same  advantages  as  the  great  farm- 
ers, and  they  unite  the  peasants  in  groups  strong  enough 
to  force  the  parliament  to  look  out  for  the  agrarian  interest. 
The  Raffaisen  Banks,  which  were  organized  to  help  the 
working  men,  make  small  advances  to  the  farmers  at  low 
interest,  thus  allowing  them  to  improve  their  fields,  to 
drain  and  irrigate  their  land,  to  build  greenhouses  or  to 
buy  cattle.  Therefore,  it  is  not  remarkable  that  the  culti- 
vation in  Belgitmi  should  be  as  intensive  as  anywhere 
in  the  world.  The  following  is  the  production  per  acre  of 
the  various  cereals  in  Belgium  and  the  neighboring  countries* : 


Wheat 

Rye 

Oats 

Potatoes 

Belgium    33KB. 
France         19  B. 
Germany    27  B. 
Great  Britain  30  B. 

31KB. 

15KB. 

23  B. 

54KB. 

26XB. 

38KB. 

39B. 

6.7  ton 
3 

The  best  results  are  generally  obtained  from  the  small 
farms,  the  average  size  of  a  holding  being  143^^  acres  as 
against  63  acres  in  England.  Thus  the  greater  nimiber  of 
the  farmers  cultivate  their  own  land.  Out  of  one  hundred 
cultivators  there  are  only  thirty-five  paid  laborers.  In 
England  these  figures  are  exactly  reversed. 

This  agricultural  prosperity  has  been  increased  in  the 
last  few  years  by  the  development  of  light  railways  ("Che- 
mins    de    fer   Vicinaux").     These   little   lines   have   local 

'  Rowntree,  ibid.,  p.  178. 

28 


interest  only  and  offer  no  very  brilliant  prospects  to 
their  shareholders;  but  the  Belgian  Government  en- 
couraged the  fonnation  of  a  "National  Organization  of 
Local  Railways,"  a  serai-official  body  which  has  a  monopoly 
of  the  light  railways  and  is  guaranteed  by  the  state,  the 
shares  being  held  by  the  state,  the  provinces  or  the  com- 
munes. Each  line  is  built  by  certain  men  who  in  turn 
lease  the  railway  to  another  company.  These  tenants 
operate  the  roads.  The  advantages  of  this  system  are, 
first,  that  it  prevents  excessive  centralization  and  bureau- 
cratic complications  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  it  makes 
possible  the  construction  of  lines  which  would  bring  in 
very  little,  or  would  not  even  pay  at  all  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  expense  is  small  because  the  tracks  are  laid 
along  the  roads,  very  light  material  is  used,  and  country 
inns  are  quite  often  used  for  the  stations.  In  this  manner 
the  railroads  are  run  without  actual  loss  and  contribute  a 
great  deal  to  the  success  of  farming  in  out-of-the-way  dis- 
tricts. The  percentage  of  local  railways  in  Belgium  in 
191 8  was  22.8  miles  per  square  mile  of  country,  whereas 
in  Germany  it  was  only  2.6,  in  France  1.8,  and  in  England 
0.38  miles  per  square  mile. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  these  local  lines  are  only 
supplementary  to  the  regular  railways,  which  have  also 
developed  quite  remarkably  in  Belgium.  There  are  about 
three  thousand  miles  of  track,  that  is  30.29  to  every  square 
mile  as  against  22.38  in  England,  15.72  in  Germany,  and 
11.72  in  France.  Almost  all  these  lines  are  owned  by  the 
state. 

There  is  a  fine  system  of  canals  in  Belgium,  especially 
in  the  north,  which  makes  it  possible  to  transport  heavy 
loads  at  a  low  charge.  The  port  of  Antwerp  is  the  natural 
exit  and  entrance  to  this  network  of  waterways.  It  was 
known  among  European  ports  for  the  ease  with  which  any 
vessel  unloading  there  could  find  another  cargo.     Antwerp 

29 


was  not  only  the  natural  export-harbor  for  Belgian  pro- 
ducts but  was  also  an  important  port  of  transit.  It  is 
noteworthy  that,  contrary  to  a  fairly  current  opinion, 
German  trade  was  not  the  most  important.  Statistics 
show  that  Antwerp's  commerce  was  half  with  England 
and  only  one  fifth  with  Germany. 

Belgium's  commerce,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  was 
the  most  flourishing  in  the  world.  In  1913  it  amounted 
to  about  nine  milliards  of  francs  ($1,800,000,000).  Strictly 
speaking  Belgium  ranked  fifth,  coming  after  England, 
Germany,  the  United  States,  and  France.  This  was  due 
partly  to  the  nation's  favorable  position  and  the  industry 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  also  in  an  almost  equal  degree  to 
the  natural  resources  of  the  country.  These  latter  are 
mostly  a  result  of  the  agricultural  prosperity  which  has 
already  been  mentioned:  for,  although  Belgium  could 
not  produce  enough  com  for  her  dense  population  (four 
fifths  of  the  wheat  consumed  in  the  country  was  im- 
ported), she  was  able  to  export  sugar,  vegetables,  and  fruit. 
The  chief  mining  wealth  was  coal,  the  output  of  which  was 
equal  to  that  of  Russia  and  about  half  that  of  France,  but 
much  less  than  the  production  in  England  and  the  United 
States.  The  recent  discovery  of  a  large  coal  bed  in  the 
north  of  the  country  gives  promise  that  the  coal  supply  of 
Belgium  may  double  in  a  few  years.  The  iron  mines  are 
to  a  great  extent  worked  out,  but  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Luxemburg  and  Lorraine  are  both  near  enough  to  supply 
material  for  a  great  deal  of  metal  work  in  Belgium.  The 
production  of  steel  was  more  than  half  that  of  the  French, 
a  third  of  the  English  and  a  seventh  of  the  German.  For- 
merly there  was  a  large  supply  of  zinc  found  in  "La  Vieille 
Montagne"  near  Lidge  but  the  veins  are  now  exhausted, 
and  the  industry  has  developed  with  imported  material. 
In  1 9 14  Belgium  handled  a  quarter  of  the  annual  zinc  supply 
of  the  world.     The  quarries,  which  are  another  considerable 

30 


source  of  Belgian  wealth,  brought  in  sixty-two  million  francs 
a  year.  They  contain  bluestone  for  building,  limestone, 
black  and  red  marbles  in  the  Wallonian  district,  chalky 
stones  from  the  country  round  Maestricht,  porphyry  for 
paving  stones  from  South  Brabant. 

The  public  debt  was  relatively  small — $1,200,000,000 
in  1 914,  of  which  about  half  was  represented  by  the  state 
railways.  Belgium  was  one  of  the  most  lightly  taxed 
countries  in  the  world. 

THE  BELGIAN  CONGO 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  conference  of  Berlin  in  1885, 
Leopold  II,  King  of  the  Belgians,  was  called  to  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  independent  state  of  the  Congo  on  account 
of  the  part  he  had  taken  in  the  struggle  against  slavery 
in  Central  Africa.  Between  the  new  state  and  Belgium  there 
was  only  a  personal  union.  The  power  of  the  sovereign 
of  the  Congo  was  absolute.  The  Congo  State  experienced 
at  first  quite  a  difficult  period,  then  came  prosperity,  due 
especially  to  the  export  of  rubber.  A  part  of  the  revenue 
from  the  colony  became  the  property  of  the  King  of  the 
Belgians,  who  employed  it  particularly  to  beautify  Brussels 
and  its  vicinity.  Various  charges  have  been  made  against 
the  administration  of  the  independent  state  of  the  Congo. 
It  has  been  proved  that  most  of  these  accusations,  which 
in  no  case  concerned  Belgium,  were  unfounded.  The 
action  of  the  principal  accusers,  Messrs.  Morel  and  Case- 
ment, in  the  present  war  renders  moreover  their  testimony 
highly  questionable. 

A  short  time  before  the  death  of  Leopold  II,  the  Congo 
was  taken  over  by  Belgitun.  King  Albert  at  his  succession 
to  the  throne  emphasized  in  quite  a  special  way  in  his 
address  to  the  Chambers  and  also  on  the  occasion  of  the 
inaugiu-ation  of  the  Museum  at  Tervueren  the  necessity 

31 


for  extending  to  all  of  the  Congo  a  rule  worthy  of  Belgium. 
He  recommended  to  the  Chambers  that  they  vote  a  series 
of  decrees,  which,  as  he  said,  had  for  their  aim  the  happi- 
ness of  the  native  population,  and  were  prompted  by  a 
liberal  policy,  for  "we  should  enjoy  the  respect  of  our  neigh- 
bors, and,  surrounded  by  other  sympathetic  nations,  ad- 
vance unceasingly  in  the  path  of  progress."  A  short  while 
before  his  coming  to  the  throne,  Albert  I  had  visited  the 
colony.  The  first  minister  of  the  colonies,  Mr.  Renkin, 
did  likewise,  and  it  was  in  the  colony  itself  that  he  elaborated 
most  of  the  plans  of  which  the  King  had  spoken.  Under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Renkin,  great  progress  was  realized. 
The  sleeping  sickness  was  combated,  while  a  chain  of 
important  lines  of  railroads  and  the  creation  of  an  impor- 
tant fleet  of  river  boats  facilitated  the  development  of  the 
colony.  The  missions  were  doubled,  the  mining  region 
of  Katanga  was  explored.  The  war  has  not  interrupted 
these  activities:  the  copper  mines  are  being  developed, 
and  several  months  ago  the  last  rail  was  laid  on  the  line 
connecting  Katanga  with  the  network  of  lakes  in  Central 
Africa. 

The  native  army  was  also  increased  and  the  fidelity  of 
the  blacks  (remarkable  examples  of  this  have  been  pub- 
lished) proves  their  attachment  to  the  present  government. 

The  war  has  produced  great  prosperity  in  the  Belgian 
colony.  In  1916,  the  exports  amounted  to  129,200,006 
francs  against  46,391,000  francs  of  exports. 


32 


black  troops  in  the  state  so  that  the  Belgians  at  first 
directed  their  contingents  against  Cameroon.  These,  joined 
to  the  French  troops  of  Gaboon,  went  up  the  valley  of  the 
Sanga,  and  on  the  28th  of  January,  1916,  entered  Yaunde, 
the  capital  of  Cameroon. 

German  East  Africa  was  provided  with  numerous  black 
troops,  well  armed  and  commanded  by  many  European 
oflRccrs.  The  war  supplies  had  been  increased  from  the 
armament  of  the  cruiser  Kocnigsherg.  The  Belgians  were 
therefore  obliged  at  the  beginning  to  hold  themselves  on 
the  defensive  while  provisions  and  ammunition  were  being 
transported  across  the  vast  continent — partly  on  the  backs 
of  the  men. 

In  March,  191 6,  General  Tombeur  felt  strong  enough  to 
launch  an  offensive,  which  was  energetically  directed.  On 
the  3d  of  July,  at  Kato,  the  main  body  of  the  German  army 
was  cut  to  pieces.  On  the  26th  of  September,  after  other 
engagements,  the  Belgians  entered  Tabora,  capital  of  the 
colony,  and  there  delivered  189  Europeans  belonging  to 
the  allied  nations.  They  had  captured  from  Germany 
about  120,000  square  miles.  Their  offensive  powerfully 
aided  those  of  the  English  in  the  northern  part  of  the  same 
colony. 

In  Russia,  a  Belgian  division  of  armed  motor-cars  ren- 
dered valuable  service  during  the  offensive  of  191 7.  Tliey 
opened  up  the  way  for  the  infantry  at  Koniuchy;  they 
covered  the  retreat  on  the  Tamopol  route  and  stopped  the 
enemy — sometimes  for  whole  days. 

MORAL  AND  DIPLOMATIC  INFLUENCE  OF 
BELGIUM 

It  is  always  contrary  to  the  rules  of  international  law 
to  enter  by  force  with  an  army  the  territory  of  a  neutral 
country  in  such  a  way  as  to  reap  any  advantage  whatso- 

37 


i45<:9 


ever  in  a  war  with  another  nation.  In  the  case  of  the  viola- 
tion of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium  by  Germany,  the  injustice 
takes  on  a  special  character.  Belgium  was,  in  fact,  re- 
duced to  a  state  of  neutrality  imposed  by  a  treaty.  This 
was  a  double  contract.  On  one  hand,  the  five  contracting 
powers  (England,  Austria,  France,  Prussia,  and  Russia) 
agreed,  in  relation  to  Belgium,  to  abstain  from  all  acts  of 
hostility  on  her  territory  on  condition  that  she  should 
abstain  from  forming  alliances  and  from  entertaining  any 
political  ambitions.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  an 
agreement  on  the  part  of  each  of  these  powers  in  relation 
to  the  others  to  respect  Belgian  neutrality.  This  stipula- 
tion was  the  principal  reason  for  the  treaty  of  London:  for 
the  powers  wished  to  prevent  any  one  among  them  from 
reaping  any  advantage  in  occupying  Belgitun  or  in  forming 
an  alliance  with  her.  Belgium  had  kept  her  word  in  resisting 
by  all  means  any  attempt  of  this  kind.  For  this  reason 
she  had  always  kept  an  army,  but  this  had  been  maintained 
in  modest  proportions  not  only  because  she  had  confidence 
in  the  promise  of  the  guaranteeing  powers  but  also  in  order 
to  avoid  any  suspicion  among  them  that  Belgiimi  was 
entertaining  any  idea  of  political  aggression.  The  relative 
weakness  of  the  Belgians,  before  the  German  attack,  there- 
fore, was  due  not  only  to  their  confidence  in  their  neigh- 
bors' word  but  to  their  scrupulous  and  faithful  adherence 
to  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  This  adds  to  the  odious  char- 
acter of  Germany's  act,  the  perfidy  of  which  appears  still 
more  complete  when  one  takes  into  account  the  reiterated 
assurances  which  she  had  given  to  Belgitmi,  saying  that 
she  intended  to  respect  the  treaty. 

Bismarck  had  written  in  1870:  "In  confirmation  of  my 
assurances  given  by  word  of  mouth,  I  have  the  honor  to 
restate  to  you  in  writing  the  declaration — superfluous  if 
one  considers  the  treaties  in  force — that  the  North  German 
Confederation  and  its  allies  will  respect  the  neutrality  of 

38 


Belgium,  provided  naturally  that  this  country  be  respected 
by  the  other  belligerent." 

In  a  speech  of  Von  Jagow,  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
to  the  Budget  Committee  of  the  Reichstag  on  April  the 
29th,  1913,  he  declared:  "Belgian  neutrality  is  guaranteed 
by  international  conventions  and  Germany  is  determined 
to  respect  these  conventions." 

On  the  2d  of  August,  1914,  Von  Below,  the  German 
Minister  at  Brussels  stated  to  the  Brussels  newspaper  edi- 
tors: "  The  troops  will  not  cross  Belgian  territory.  Serious 
events  are  impending.  Perhaps  you  will  see  your  neighbor's 
house  burned  down  but  the  fire  will  spare  your  own  resi- 
dence." 

In  spite  of  all  these  protestations,  on  this  very  day,  the 
2d  of  August,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  same 
minister  delivered  to  M.  Davignon,  Belgian  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  a  note  announcing  Germany's  intention 
of  sending  her  troops  across  Belgian  territory  with  the  aim 
of  averting  a  French  attack  by  way  of  the  Meuse  valley. 
(The  Germans  have  since  then  acknowledged  that  there 
was  no  indication  that  such  an  attack  was  being  prepared.) 
In  case  Belgium  should  oppose  the  passage  of  German 
troops,  she  was  to  be  considered  as  an  enemy  country. 
The  reply  had  to  be  given  in  twelve  hours. 

The  members  of  the  Belgian  Government  had  little  diffi- 
culty in  reaching  an  agreement  among  themselves  and  with 
the  King  as  to  the  nature  of  the  reply  to  be  made  to  this 
ultimatum.  It  ends  with  these  words:  "The  Belgian 
Government  by  accepting  the  proposals  made  to  it  would 
sacrifice  the  honor  of  the  nation  and  at  the  same  time  betray 
its  duty  in  relation  to  Europe.  Conscious  of  the  r61e  that 
Belgium  has  played  for  over  eighty  years  in  the  civilization 
of  the  world,  it  refuses  to  believe  that  the  independence  of 
Belgium  can  be  preserved  only  at  the  price  of  the  violation 
of  that  neutrality.     If  this  hope  is  deceived,  the  Belgian 

39 


Govermnent  is  firmly  determined  to  repulse  by  every  means 
in  its  power  any  violation  of  its  rights." 

This  attitude  of  Belgium  exposed  it  to  the  greatest  dan- 
gers. It  was  not,  however,  an  attitude  due  to  a  vain  pride 
or  to  boldness,  or  to  an  exaggerated  idealism.  It  was  a 
profound  sense  of  the  justice  of  her  cause  and  of  her  duty 
to  Europe  and  to  herself  which  led  Belgium  in  the  person 
of  King  Albert  and  of  her  ministers  to  make  unhesitatingly 
these  serious  resolutions.  They  were  entirely  approved 
by  the  nation. 

This  upright  policy  had  a  great  moral  effect  on  the  war. 
It  had  as  a  first  result  the  intervention  of  England.  This 
country  would  have  abandoned  an  age-old  policy  if  she  had 
permitted  an  important  power  to  take  possession  of  Ant- 
werp and  of  Flanders  and  thus  to  threaten  Pas  de  Calais, 
and  the  whole  of  Great  Britain.  A  complete  victory  more- 
over would  have  constituted  a  great  danger  for  the  British 
Empire.  In  one  way  then  it  was  a  wise  policy  for  England 
not  to  detach  herself  from  the  Triple  Entente  and  to  enter 
the  struggle.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  was  a  terrible 
adventure  to  undertake  with  a  very  small  army,  the  enor- 
mous task  of  crushing  the  formidable  German  military 
power.  Great  sacrifices  had  to  be  made  by  the  nation 
and,  an  ardent  patriotism  had  to  be  aroused  in  the  mass 
of  the  English  people  who  were  rather  inclining  towards 
pacificism.  The  undertaking  would  perhaps  have  been 
beyond  human  strength  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  moral 
shock  produced  by  the  German  crime  in  Belgium.  The 
violation  of  neutrality  had  been  followed  by  the  contemp- 
tuous words  of  the  German  chancellor  referring  to  the  treaty 
as  a  "scrap  of  paper."  Then  had  come  the  news  of  the 
burning  of  Louvain  with  the  horrors  inflicted  on  the  Belgian 
population  by  the  German  armies.  From  the  very  beginning 
of  the  campaign,  the  German  conception  of  war,  born  of  the 
philosophy  of  Kullur,  presented  itself  as  diametrically  op- 

40 


posed  to  all  the  ideas  of  morality,  of  justice,  and  of  human- 
ity, the  ideals  dear  to  modern  peoples.  There  was  from 
that  moment  a  lofty  aim  in  the  war,  an  ideal  to  the  defense 
of  which  the  whole  world  rallied,  irrespective  of  political 
opinions,  class  interests,  or  patriotism. 

Belgium's  heroic  stand  and  the  German  atrocities  in 
Belgium  not  only  facilitated  the  powerful  intervention  of 
England  but  they  produced  a  deep  feeling  in  Italy  and  there, 
also,  strongly  contributed  to  the  creation  of  a  state  of  mind 
necessary  to  the  great  resolution  of  May,  1915.  In  the 
small  neutral  nations  of  Europe  there  was,  without  doubt, 
some  fear  caused  by  the  cruelty  of  the  Germans  towards 
the  little  country  which  dared  to  resist  them,  but  sympathy 
went  to  the  victim  in  spite  of  the  German  propaganda, 
which,  particularly  through  the  pen  of  the  Swedish  profes- 
sor Steffin,  attempted  to  represent  the  attitude  of  Belgium 
as  an  act  of  folly. 

In  the  United  States  the  sympathy  of  the  greater  part 
of  the  population  for  those  who  suffered  unjustly  in  Bel- 
gium expressed  itself  immediately  in  concrete  acts.  The 
Commission  of  "Belgian  Relief"  was  founded  in  October, 
1914,  and  since  that  time  the  great  nation  of  America  has 
not  ceased  to  show  proofs  of  a  steadfast  friendship  for  the 
little  country  of  Europe  which  suffered  for  principles  dear 
to  every  American. 

The  violation  of  her  promises  by  Germany  and  her  in- 
describable conduct  in  Belgium  had  rapidly  created  a 
public  opinion  which  neither  peaceful  tendencies,  nor  the 
Monroe  doctrine,  nor  German  propaganda — impudent  or 
cunning — could  alter.  The  submarine  exploits  raised  to 
the  highest  pitch  an  exasperation  which  was  already  very 
great;  and  the  breaking  off  of  diplomatic  relations  between 
Washington  and  Berlin,  caused  by  the  actions  of  the  Ger- 
mans on  the  sea,  had  already  been  demanded  with  insist- 
ence all  over  the  country — in  the  name  of  Lincoln's  great 

41 


principles— when  Germany  established  slavery  in  Belgium 
by  the  deportation  of  workmen. 

The  noble  conduct  and  the  powerful  letters  of  Cardinal 
Mercier,  proclaiming  the  imprescriptible  rights  of  Christian 
morality  in  the  presence  of  the  force  founded  on  a  bar 
barous  philosophy,  made  a  profound  impression  among 
Christians  and  especially  on  the  entire  Catholic  world. 
They  helped  to  dissipate  the  clouds  with  which  a  very 
insidious  Austro-German  propaganda  had  tried  to  disguise 
among  them,  the  true  moral  character  of  the  conflict.  To 
the  pacifists  of  every  class  who  wish  peace,  if  not  at  any 
price  at  least  above  everything,  the  Cardinal  held  up  the 
sovereign  rights  of  justice  and  the  promise  that  the  "last 
word  of  this  war  shall  be  pronounced  by  the  God  of  Justice." 

The  destruction  of  the  University  of  Louvain  moved  the 
entire  thinking  world,  and  the  cltmisy  manifesto  of  the 
ninety-three  German  scholars,  approving  blindfolded  all 
the  acts  of  their  government  and  of  their  soldiers  in  Belgium, 
struck  another  blow  to  the  fellow-feeling  which  German 
science  had  won  in  university  centers. 

BELGIAN  MORAL  EFFORT 

The  civilian  population  of  Belgium  had  given  proof  of 
courage  in  accepting  all  these  risks  of  resistance  to  the  will 
of  Germany;  the  army  also  immediately  showed  great 
bravery,  especially  at  Liege,  under  command  of  the  intre- 
pid General  Leman.  This  effort  from  the  beginning  was, 
however,  a  small  thing  in  comparison  with  the  long  ordeals 
which  were  to  follow.  The  Belgian  fighting  men  little  knew 
the  electrifying  effect  of  victory.  Facing  an  innumerable 
army  and  powerful  instnmients  of  war,  their  task  was  to 
dispute,  foot  by  foot,  the  road  with  those  who  wished  by  a 
withering  march  to  crush  nations  insufficiently  prepared 
to   resist    them.     Each    heroic,    stubborn   resistance    was 

42 


followed  by  an  order  to  retreat.  Later,  it  was  the  long 
waiting  in  the  mud  and  stagnant  water  of  the  Yscr.  Be- 
hind the  gloom  of  the  drenching  rains  the  soldier  divined 
the  presence  of  an  enemy  who  was  torturing  his  people 
and  whom  he  could  not  think  of  pursuing  until  the  general 
situation  of  the  front  should  make  this  offensive  possible. 

The  invincibility  of  the  Belgian  attack  in  September, 
19 1 8,  showed  that  this  army  had  been  able  to  resist  those 
four  years  of  ordeal  without  seeing  its  morale  weaken. 

The  civilians,  on  the  contrary,  were  in  permanent  con- 
tact with  the  enemy,  which  fact  caused  it  to  be  said  that 
"Belgium  was  the  civilian  front."  Their  attitude  might 
lead  to  the  gravest  consequences  for  the  future  of  their 
country.  Germany  conducted  against  them  a  continuous 
warfare,  seeking  to  compromise  them  in  some  way  in  order 
to  make  the  world  believe  that  Belgitmi  was  accepting  the 
accomplished  fact,  attempting  to  separate  them  from  the 
Allies  by  an  artful  press,  doing  her  utmost  by  a  thousand 
privations  and  by  the  severity  of  her  rule  to  provoke  a 
feeling  of  discouragement — the  necessary  condition  for  a 
shameful  peace — striving  to  create  a  division  between  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  townspeople  and  the  peasants,  the 
refugees  and  the  Belgians  who  had  remained  in  the  country, 
between  the  Catholics  and  the  free-thinkers,  the  Flemings 
and  the  Walloons,  by  slandering  the  King,  the  Queen,  the 
Cardinal,  the  government,  etc. 

All  this  was  of  no  avail.  The  population  of  Brussels 
and  of  the  province  remained  inflexible  in  the  attitude  of 
passive  resistance  in  the  face  of  the  invader.  The  authori- 
ties set  the  example.  The  sovereigns  and  the  government 
had  shown  the  way.  They  were  followed  by  the  burgo- 
masters who,  on  the  arrival  of  the  enemy,  assumed  a  fear- 
less attitude;  for  example  Air.  Max  in  Brussels,  Count 
Visart  de  Bocarm^  at  Bruges,  Mr.  de  Lalieux  at  Nivelles. 

The  corporation  of  lawyers  of  Brussels  in  the  person  of 

43 


Mr.  Theodor  protested  against  the  manner  of  administering 
justice  in  Belgium  in  the  tribunals  organized  by  the  Ger- 
mans. This  act  cost  him  a  long  imprisonment  in  Germany. 
The  judges,  also,  by  causing  the  arrest  of  the  traitors  who, 
with  the  support  of  Germany,  were  attempting  to  divide 
Belgimn,  exposed  themselves  to  the  severities  of  the  in- 
vader. Exile  and  imprisonment  were  likewise  inflicted  on 
Professors  Pirenne  and  Frederic  for  having  refused  to 
support  the  German  plan  concerning  the  founding  of  a 
Flemish  university  at  Ghent. 

Many  leading  men  were  condemned  for  having  refused 
to  make  their  workmen  labor  for  the  enemy;  for  refusing 
absolutely  to  give  information  to  the  enemy  for  the  purpose 
of  deportation;  for  having  protested  against  some  abuse  of 
power,  or  under  the  accusation  of  either  having  communi- 
cated with  relatives  outside  of  Belgitmi,  or  of  having  assisted 
a  young  man  to  the  frontier,  or  of  having  read  or  spread 
abroad  a  prohibited  pamphlet.  Many  are  those  who  lost 
their  lives  in  such  manner — either  by  contracting  diseases 
in  German  camps  or  by  facing  the  bullets  of  a  firing  squad. 

The  victims  were  still  more  numerous  among  the  work- 
men deported  to  Germany  or  forced  to  labor  behind  the 
lines.  The  percentage  of  deaths  among  those  who  were 
sent  back  home,  after  the  complete  exhaustion  of  their 
strength,  is  frightful. 

Notwithstanding  this  cruel  treatment  and  in  spite  of 
threats  and  of  all  kinds  of  temptation,  the  working  class 
remained  obstinate  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  Germans 
to  make  them  work  for  their  advantage.  The  resistance 
of  the  workmen  in  the  machine-shops  in  Malines,  Luttre, 
and  Lidge,  and  the  firmness  of  the  quarrymen  of  Lessines 
were  particularly  obstinate.  In  the  face  of  deportation, 
the  Belgian  workmen  sent  a  protest  to  all  their  brethren  in 
the  neutral  countries.  It  ended  with  these  words :  "Work- 
men, from  the  depth  of  our  misery,  we  count  on  you.     Act ! 

44 


As  for  us,  even  if  force  succeeds  for  a  time  in  subjecting 
our  bodies  to  servitude,  never  shall  our  souls  submit.  We 
add  this:  Whatever  be  our  torture,  we  wish  peace  only 
with  the  independence  of  our  country  and  the  triumph  of 
justice." 

Carried  o(T  to  Germany,  they  sufTcred  all  kinds  of  torture 
for  havin)^  refused  to  sign  a  work  contract.  Subjected 
to  forced  labor  in  Flanders  or  in  Northern  France,  they 
went  on  long  strikes,  doing  the  least  amount  of  work  pos- 
sible, while  some  of  the  more  unconquerable  spirits  were 
subjected  in  the  detention  camps  to  a  regime  of  starvation. 

Those  who  were  ruined  by  sack  and  fire  were  just  as 
courageous  and  as  calm  as  the  workmen.  In  the  large 
crowds  flocking  towards  Brussels  after  the  destruction  of 
Louvain,  there  was  no  hysterical  passion  against  their 
tormentors,  no  despondency  or  despair.  There  was  a 
resigned  sadness,  great  faith  in  a  final  victory  and  retri- 
bution, a  certain  satisfaction  in  having  been  able  to  bear 
the  ordeal,  a  desire  to  conceal  from  the  Germans  any  feeling 
of  suffering.  As  for  those  who  were  put  to  death,  they  dis- 
played not  stoicism  but  bravery.  They  accepted  death 
always  without  fear  and  often  with  heroism,  as  did  young 
Pierre  Hoogerheyde  of  Reckheim  who  was  executed  at  Char- 
leroi  in  the  spring  of  1918;  who  refused  to  be  blindfolded 
and  himself  gave  the  order  to  fire. 

Far  from  terrifying  the  people,  as  the  Germans  purposed 
to  do,  these  executions  only  made  the  Belgians  hate  the 
invader  and  strengthened  their  determination  to  hold  out 
to  the  end.  This  end  they  could  conceive  of  in  no  other 
way  except  as  a  victory  to  be  gained  for  their  rights. 
This  unshakable  confidence  in  the  future,  which  sustained 
them  in  their  long  ordeal,  they  kept,  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  the  enemy  to  convince  them  by  their  placards 
and  their  newspapers  that  the  cause  of  the  Allies  was  defi- 
nitely  lost.     These  attempts  to  poison  their  minds  were 

45 


thwarted,  above  all  by  a  powerful  and  fearless  clandestine 
press  which  defied  all  the  efforts  of  the  rapacious  German 
administration  to  strangle  it.  These  little  newspapers, 
these  pamphlets,  never  ceased  to  publish  the  heroic  acts  of 
their  countrymen,  the  allied  victories,  the  German  crimes. 
If  the  attempt  at  moral  suppression  was  thwarted  in  this 
way  by  Belgian  ingenuity,  it  was  the  same  with  the  attempts 
made  by  the  enemy  to  imprison  the  Belgians  in  their  coun- 
try. The  only  frontier  in  the  direction  of  a  neutral  nation 
— that  of  Holland — was  defended  by  a  triple  wire  in  which 
ran  an  electric  current  at  a  high  pressure.  There  were, 
besides,  a  canal,  barbed-wire  fences,  and  a  hedge  of  sen- 
tinels who  fired  without  pity  on  every  person  suspected  of 
attempting  to  escape.  In  spite  of  this  severity  ahout 
twenty  thousand  young  men  escaped  from  jail  in  order 
that  they  might  join  the  Belgian  army;  and  many  were  the 
circumstances  under  which  numerous  others  for  serious 
reasons  ran  the  same  risk.  A  great  many  lost  their  lives 
or  their  liberty  in  this  way,  but  a  greater  number  succeeded 
in  passing  the  border — thanks  to  their  incredible  cleverness. 
Among  these  escapes  the  best  known  are  those  of  the 
boats  Scaldis  at  Antwerp  and  of  Atlas  V  at  Li^ge,  each  of 
which  by  an  act  of  remarkable  daring  succeeded  in  taking 
an  important  group  of  Belgians  into  Holland. 

SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  WAR 

A  relative  famine  was  the  portion  of  all  the  peoples  of 
Europe  during  this  long  war.  The  Belgians  suffered  from 
it  more  especially  for  two  reasons.  The  very  dense  popula- 
tion of  the  country  makes  it  necessary,  even  in  times  of 
peace,  to  import  a  large  part  of  its  provisions,  and  the 
country  found  itself,  on  account  of  the  German  occupation, 
cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  except  from  Holland. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  almost  complete  suppression  of  all 

46 


industry  by  Germany  stopped  the  economic  life  of  the 
nation,  and  millions  of  people  were  reduced  to  want. 
These  people  were  not  able  themselves  to  buy  food  and 
became  dependent  on  the  public  distribution.  In  addition 
to  this,  let  it  be  remembered  that  there  were  unceasing 
requisitions  of  food  made  by  Germany,  especially  in  the 
campaigns  in  Flanders;  and  it  will  be  readily  understood 
why  a  frightful  famine  would  have  spread  over  the  country 
if  the  "Belgian  Relief"  had  not  come  to  avert  this  catas- 
trophe. The  Belgian  Government  could  hardly  hope  that 
Germany  would  carefully  fulfill  the  duties  of  an  occupying 
power  and  furnish  to  the  invaded  regions  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  food.  It  was  probable  that  Germany  herself, 
suffering  from  famine  on  account  of  the  blockade  to  which 
she  was  subjected,  would  allow  the  Belgians  only  a  very 
little  to  eat.  On  the  other  hand,  in  permitting  food  to  be 
taken  into  Belgium,  the  Allies  ran  the  risk  of  having  it 
seized  by  Germany  for  their  own  army.  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  for  a  neutral  Commission  to  supervise  the  distri- 
bution of  foodstuffs  and  for  Germany  to  promise  not  to 
seize  these  imports.  The  intervention  of  the  United  States 
and  Spain  made  this  plan  practicable.  An  American  Com- 
mission was  formed,  the  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium, 
charged  with  the  task  of  collecting  donations  and  of  buying 
and  importing  food  through  the  medium  of  its  office  in 
Brussels,  and  of  seeing  that  Germany  respected  her  promises 
and  did  not  seize  the  food  brought  into  Belgium.  A  Belgian 
Committee,  the  National  Committee  for  Relief  and  Feed- 
ing, undertook  likewise  to  distribute  this  same  food  in  the 
country.  Rations  were  distributed  to  whomsoever  could 
not  pay.  Others  paid  in  proportion  to  their  means.  The 
funds  were  furnished  principally  by  the  Belgian  Govern- 
ment, which  borrowed,  to  that  end,  at  first  from  the  English 
and  French  governments  and  afterwards  from  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.     Public  generosity  furnished, 

47 


in  addition  to  this,  important  contributions,  which  came 
particularly  from  the  United  States,  from  the  European 
allies ,  and  from  the  English  colonies .  Wh  en  America  entered 
the  war  the  American  Commissioners  were  replaced  by 
Spaniards  and  Dutch. 

The  submarine  warfare  at  times  rendered  the  work  of 
the  Commission  for  Belgian  Relief  extremely  difficult. 
Ships  laden  with  wheat  were  sunk  and  the  number  of  avail- 
able vessels  decreased  considerably. 

During  the  winters  of  19 16-17  and  of  191 7-1 8,  the  ra- 
tions had  to  be  reduced  to  the  point  of  not  furnishing  more 
than  half  the  calories  necessary  for  an  idle  man  to  keep 
his  weight;  consequently  there  was  a  general  weakening 
of  the  population,  as  is  shown  by  Mr.  M.  Pate  (report  of 
June  6,  191 7),  American  representative  of  the  Commission 
for  Belgian  Relief  for  the  province  of  Hainault.  The  rate 
of  mortality  in  the  region  of  Charleroi,  as  he  states,  was 
three  and  one-half  times  what  it  was  in  normal  times,  and 
that  without  any  epidemic.  Physical  resistance  to  disease 
had  been  lowered  to  one-third  of  the  normal  resistance. 
Men  had  lost  from  ten  to  forty  pounds  of  weight.  The 
ntunber  of  people  receiving  soup  each  day  had  increased 
from  sixty  thousand  to  four  hundred  thousand  during  the 
months  of  February  and  March,  1917.  So  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  one  could  scarcely  expect  private  individuals  to  be 
able  to  supplement  the  insufficiency  of  these  rations  by 
the  purchase  of  native  products.  These  products  were 
indeed  scarce  and  commanded  fantastic  prices.  During 
the  winter  of  191 7-1 8  the  retail  prices  paid  in  Antwerp 
were  as  follows: 

Before  the  War  In  April,  igi8 

CoflFee      per  lb.  $0.27  $5.50  to  $6.40 

Butter        "     "      0.27  2.38 

Rice  "     "      0.07  1.83 

Meat  "    "      0.27  1.37 

48 


Bacon        "     ' 

'     J0.18 

lArd 

0.16 

Eggs,  each 

0.02 

Cheese       " 

0.18 

Potatoes    " 

'         O.OI 

$2.28 

2.73 
0.13 
1.64 
0.18 

Under  the  influence  of  these  causes,  the  general  state  of 
health  grew  steadily  worse.  At  Brussels  in  January,  191 8. 
a  newspaper  stated  that  the  majority  of  the  adults  di<l  not 
weigh  more  than  no  to  140  pounds.  In  lirusscls,  during 
the  last  week  of  191 7,  there  were  only  eighty-five  births 
against  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  deaths.  The  same 
conditions  existed  in  Antwerp,  and  in  the  latter  city  the 
mortality  had  increased  from  13.5  to  28  per  thousand.  At 
Liege  during  the  year  of  191 7  there  were  only  1362  births 
against  2951  deaths.  Tuberculosis  spread  more  and  more 
rapidly  with  its  destructive  power.  It  has  been  recently 
reported  that  in  certain  districts,  one-third  of  the  population 
is  tainted  with  this  germ  to  some  extent  in  some  form  or  other. 

The  progress  of  tuberculosis  was  favored  by  the  coal 
famine  which  increased  the  price  of  coal  to  S23  a  ton,  and 
by  the  lack  of  covering  and  of  warm  clothing.  Cloth  sold 
at  $12  a  yard;  a  pair  of  stockings  at  $3,  and  shoes  cost 
from  $18  to  $25  a  pair.  Soap  was  very  scarce.  It  sold 
for  $2  a  pound,  and  its  absence  caused  the  appearance  of 
skin  diseases,  especially  the  itch. 

Here  again,  the  ingenuity  of  the  inhabitants  attempted 
to  remedy  these  evils  in  various  ways.  Substitutes  for 
divers  things  were  invented:  people  drank  coffee  made  of 
seeds  from  the  pine  tree;  they  smoked  strawberry  plants; 
they  made  cloaks  from  bed-coverings;  old  clothes  were 
turned  and  made  over ;  clogs  were  worn  instead  of  shoes. 

EXACTIONS,  DESTRUCTION 

The  German  invasion  and  occupation  transformed  one 
of  the  most  industrious  commercial  countries  of  the  world 

49 


into  a  region  of  misery  and  desolation.  From  the  very 
beginning  of  the  invasion,  economic  life  was  almost  de- 
stroyed and  only  the  institution  of  the  moratorium  could 
prevent  complete  financial  ruin.  The  railroads  were  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  military  authorities,  and  in  order  to 
use  them  the  civilians  were  subjected  to  endless  vexations 
and  restrictions.  Even  freedom  in  going  about  on  foot 
was  not  permitted — except  through  the  use  of  a  passport 
whimsically  given  or  refused.  Telephones  were  suppressed; 
the  mail  service  was  reduced  to  almost  no  service  at  all; 
and  only  open  letters  were  accepted. 

What  is  even  worse,  great  quantities  of  raw  material 
were  requisitioned  at  the  beginning  of  the  occupation  for 
instance,  eighty-five  millions  of  merchandise  at  Antwerp. 
This  alone  would  have  struck  a  heavy  blow  at  the  activity 
of  the  mills.  These  continued  to  operate,  however,  for  a 
year  or  two,  generally  at  a  loss,  and  often  only  for  a  part 
of  the  week.  The  reserve  funds  of  several  large  enterprises 
disappeared  in  this  way.  But  things  did  not  stop  there. 
Germany  had  an  inexorable  plan,  conceived  by  the  great 
manufacturer,  W.  Rathenau,  for  the  exploitation  of  Bel- 
gium. The  requisitions  were  pushed  farther  and  farther. 
The  Germans  began  by  seizing  the  materials,  then  they 
requisitioned  machinery  of  every  kind.  Finally  in  191 7 
everything  that  could  be  taken  away  was  sent  to  Germany 
and  the  rest  was  utterly  destroyed  and  reduced  to  scrap- 
iron.  On  various  occasions  the  men  who  executed  this  sad 
business  confessed  that  it  was  a  question  not  only  of  ex- 
ploiting the  conquered  country  but  of  reducing  it  for  years 
to  come  to  economic  helplessness. 

Since  this  annihilation  of  the  Belgian  industrial  equip- 
ment, the  requisitions  have  continued.  Copper  in  all  forms 
has  been  taken  from  private  homes.  In  the  same  way  all 
wool  was  seized,  especially  that  in  mattresses.  Leather  and 
linen  were  also  eagerly  collected.     The  products  of  the  soil 

50 


were  collected  in  Zentralen  and  were  sold  to  the  inhabitants 
only  after  Germany  has  taken  the  best  part  of  it.  The  forests 
of  Belgium  have  nearly  all  been  cut  down  by  the  enemy. 

There  were,  besides,  financial  extortions  of  two  kinds. 
Under  the  state  budget  which,  according  to  the  interna- 
tional conventions,  should  be  used  exclusively  for  the  needs 
and  for  the  administration  of  the  occupied  territory,  Ger- 
many levied  annually  about  sixteen  million  dollars  for  Ger- 
man interests. 

Besides  this,  a  heavy  war  tax  was  laid  on  Belgium  for  the 
support  of  the  army  occupying  Belgium.  Fixed  at  first  at 
$8,000,000  a  month,  it  was  increased  afterwards  successively 
to $10,000,000 and  $12,000,000  ($144,000,000  a  year).  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  townships  had  to  pay  large  war  taxes  (Brussels 
$10,000,000;  Lidge,  $4,000,000;  Antwerp,  $10,000,000). 

Under  various  pretexts,  individuals  or  towns  had  to  pay 
penalties — Brussels,  for  example,  two  million  marks  because 
the  inhabitants  had  celebrated  the  national  holiday  in  silence 
and  contemplation. 

On  the  1 2th  of  September,  1916,  the  Germans  seized  the 
cash  in  the  National  Bank  and  from  the  Belgian  General 
Society  (about  $110,000,000),  and  deposited  it  in  the 
Deutsche  Bank.  (The  sum  was  returned  after  the  signing 
of  the  armistice.) 

It  must  be  stated,  moreover,  that  besides  these  exactions 
there  were  plunder,  incendiarism,  bombardments.  At  the 
end  of  1914,  Mr.  H.  Masson,  a  Brussels  lawyer,  estimated 
the  damage  caused  by  these  outrages  at  $1,100,000,000. 
Since  then,  destruction  has  multiplied.  Ypres  has  been 
destroyed,  West  Flanders  terribly  ravaged,  and  each  recoil 
of  the  Germans  has  been  marked  by  destruction  and  plun- 
der. The  official  commission  for  war  damages,  instituted 
by  the  Belgian  Government,  recently  estimated  the  damage 
done  to  Belgium  by  destruction,  requisitions,  extortions, 
penalties,  plunder,  etc.,  at  $7,600,000. 

51 


Struggle  Against  the  Evils  of  the  War 

I.     IN  OCCUPIED  BELGIUM 

Crushed  by  all  the  calamities  of  war  and  by  the  extor- 
tions of  the  Germans,  the  Belgians  in  the  occupied  territory 
made  a  great  effort  to  lessen  these  evils  wherever  it  was 
possible. 

The  principal  organization  was  the  National  Committee 
for  Relief  and  Feeding  which  acted  in  conjunction  with 
the  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium.  Various  kinds  of 
relief  work  were  created  in  connection  with  this  organization. 
In  July,  1915,  it  was  decided,  for  example,  that  attendance 
on  professional  courses  should  become  the  condition  of  ob- 
taining help  from  the  committee.  In  this  way  the  forced 
idleness  of  the  workmen  was  not  lost  time.  The  Comptoirs 
du  Travail  made  the  laborers  work  uniformly  in  return  for 
the  food  received  from  the  Committee  and  required  them 
to  make  clothing  for  the  needy. 

The  food  was  portioned  out  in  various  ways.  For  ex- 
ample, the  Soupe  Communale  in  Brussels  gave  each  day 
one-half  pint  of  soup  with  250  grammes  of  bread;  one-third 
of  the  population  took  advantage  of  this  distribution. 

The  Community  Stores  collected  food  products  at  re- 
duced prices  for  those  who  had  housekeeping  cards.  The 
Restaurants  Bruxellois  and  the  Cantines  Communales  fur- 
nished meals  at  very  low  cost  to  the  lower  middle  class,  em- 
ployes, etc.  They  had  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
customers  each  day. 

The  Ligue  du  Coin  de  Terre  likewise,  under  the  direction 

52 


of  the  National  Committee,  took  care  to  procure  bits  of 
ground  for  the  workmen  in  order  to  occupy  them  and  to 
permit  them  to  add  vegetables  to  their  nourishment. 

There  was  also  incorporated  in  the  National  Committee 
a  "Food  Commission  for  Children,"  providing  with  funds 
the  local  organizations  charged  with  procuring  milk  for  the 
children  and  mothers.  For  older  cliildrcn  there  was  an  or- 
ganization for  school  lunches.  The  "Little  Bees"  also 
operated  canteens  for  mothers  and  children  and  distri- 
buted clothes  and  layettes. 

The  Patriotic  Union  of  Belgian  Women  found  employ- 
ment for  those  out  of  work,  furnished  work  for  the  lace- 
makers  in  Flanders,  and  shipped  their  products  to  foreign 
countries.  There  were,  moreover,  organizations  and  com- 
mittees which  gave  money-aid  to  families  formerly  in  easy 
circumstances  whom  the  war  had  reduced  to  pecuniary 
embarrassment.  Certain  of  these  organizations  brought 
relief  to  families  deprived  by  the  war  of  their  means  of 
support ;  others  operated  in  a  more  extensive  and  far-reach- 
ing way,  such  as  the  "Assistance  Discrete"  and  the  Cardinal 
Mercier  Fund. 

These  relief  organizations  had  sections  in  a  large  number 
of  towns.  Everywhere  those  who  were  in  only  relative 
need  did  all  they  could  to  aid  those  who  had  nothing.  This 
was  the  case  in  that  part  of  Louvain  which  escaped  destruc- 
tion by  fire.  Here  fourteen  war  committees  operated  for 
relief. 

II.    OUTSIDE  OF  BELGIUM,  THE  REFUGEES 

Confronted  with  the  invading  Germans,  a  great  number 
of  Belgians  left  their  homes.  During  the  month  of  August, 
1914,  many  Walloons  joined  the  people  from  the  north  of 
France,  fleeing  towards  the  center  and  the  south  of  that 
country.     Later,  when  Flanders  was  threatened,  thousands 

53 


of  Belgians  went  over  to  England.  At  the  capture  of 
Antwerp  about  a  million  Flemings  took  refuge  in  Holland, 
where  they  were  well  treated,  but  these  crowds  constituted 
a  great  burden  for  this  little  country  and  their  return  to 
Belgitmi  was  advised.  About  sixty  thousand  Belgians 
remained,  however,  in  Holland.  At  the  same  time  England 
received  a  very  large  immigration  of  Belgians,  especially 
of  Flemings.  From  the  time  of  the  German  advance  to- 
wards the  Yser,  in  October,  1914,  a  large  number  of  people 
who  had  heard  of  the  excesses  committed  at  the  time  of  the 
first  invasion  during  the  month  of  August,  decided  to  cross 
the  sea.  Among  these  were  the  late  visitors  at  the  seaside 
summer  resorts,  interspersed  with  crowds  of  Flemish  peas- 
ants. There  was  a  real  panic  at  Ostend,  everybody  trying 
to  find  passage  on  the  small  number  of  boats  in  port. 
Folkestone  was  soon  overrun  with  refugees  and  new  arrivals 
continued  to  come.  England,  guarantor  for  Belgian  neu- 
trality, felt  it  to  be  a  matter  of  honor  to  show  herself  hos- 
pitable to  the  nation  which  her  brave  but  too  small  army 
had  not  been  able  to  save  from  invasion.  A  committee  for 
War  Refugees  was  formed  in  London  and  an  appeal  was 
made  to  the  people.  One  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  homes 
opened  immediately  to  the  newcomers.  It  was  not  an 
easy  task  to  portion  out  the  two  hundred  thousand  Bel- 
gians of  every  description  to  these  houses,  among  which 
htmible  cottages  were  registered  along  with  the  mansions 
and  palaces  of  the  Lords.  It  was  inevitable  that  some 
disorder  should  arise  and  that  some  assignments  should 
have  been  unfortunate,  a  condition  which  brought  certain 
difficulties  in  its  wake.  In  a  general  way,  however,  the 
distribution  was  successfully  made,  and  soon  there  was 
scarcely  a  village  in  the  United  Kingdom  which  did  not 
have  its  Belgian  family.  The  outbursts  of  generosity 
were  touching.  The  war  was  prolonged;  the  hospitality 
offered  the  Belgians  in  the  English  homes  could  not  con- 

54 


tinue,  so  after  some  hesitation  the  English  undertook  to  find 
work  for  tlie  refugees.  A  larj^'c  number  of  Belgians  found 
employment  in  the  munition  factories  which  sprang  up  in 
haste  everywhere.  Belgian  workshops  were  also  organized 
which  employed  Belgian  labor  by  preference.  Near  Leeds 
arose  a  city  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  all  of  them  Bel- 
gians who  were  employed  in  the  munition  factories.  At 
VVhiteinch  on  the  Clyde  Belgian  dockyards  ajjpeared  for 
naval  construction.  The  Belgian  Government  organized  an 
employment  bureau  at  London  and  applied  itself  to  the  task 
of  procuring  for  Belgian  subjects  schools,  priests,  hospitals, 
and  banks. 

France  likewise  was  very  hospitable  to  the  Belgian  refu- 
gees scattered  upon  all  her  territory.  Many  among  them 
also  engaged  in  war  industries.  The  Belgian  Government 
itself  was  hospitably  received  by  the  French  at  St.  Adresse, 
near  Havre,  where  it  had  an  important  administration  under 
its  direction.  France  also  gave  shelter  to  the  Belgian  army 
instruction  camps  and  to  the  manufactures  furnishing  to 
those  camps  arms  and  ammunition.  An  important  part  of 
the  personnel  of  the  munition  manufacturers  of  Herstal  near 
Li^ge,  having  succeeded  in  making  their  escape,  founded  near 
Paris  a  factory  of  expert  operatives  which  has  played  a  very 
honorable  r61e  in  the  manufacture  of  guns  for  the  French 
army. 


55 


The  Problem   of  Restoration 

The  war,  which  was  cruel  for  all  the  people  drawn  into 
its  vortex,  proved  to  be  particularly  terrible  for  the  Bel- 
gians because  their  country  for  ionr  years  had  twenty-nine 
thirtieths  of  its  territory  occupied  by  an  enemy  with  a 
fixed  determination  to  exploit  its  victim  to  the  utmost 
limit.*  Moreover,  Belgium  was  densely  populated,  very 
prosperous  and  crowded  with  cities  and  buildings  of  artistic 
and  historical  interest. 

If  the  kind  of  fighting  which  took  place  around  Ypres 
and  Roulers  had  been  continued  all  through  Belgiiun  diuing 
a  desperate  retreat  of  the  enemy,  the  destruction  of  unre- 
placeable  treasures  would  have  been  tremendous.  The 
signature  of  the  armistice  has  prevented  that  final  catas- 
trophe, but  the  amount  of  damage  has  nevertheless  been 
enormous.  At  the  moment  when  this  chapter  was  written 
the  estimation  of  losses  was  not  yet  complete,  but  had  been 
provisionally  put  at  $7,600,000,000.  This  total  comprises 
the  industrial  losses,  the  destruction  of  cities  and  houses,  the 
levies  in  cash. 
I  The  most  urgent,  although  not  the  most  important, 
damage  to  repair  concerns  the  houses.  Forty-five  thousand 
of  them  have  disappeared.  More  than  four  billion  bricks 
will  be  required  for  their  reconstruction.  In  anticipation 
of  that  situation,  companies  were  constituted  during  the 
occupation  which  have  bought  large  clay  grounds — notably 
at  Trazegnies.  For  the  period  of  transition  a  few  emerg- 
ency houses  in  wood  will  be  available.  They  have  been 
prepared  in  the  camps  of  refugees  in  Holland. 

56 


In  view  of  facilitating  the  rebuilding  of  villages,  the 
government  had  organized  in  191 7,  already,  the  "King 
Albert  Fund,"  which  has  considered  the  problems  relating 
to  the  providing  of  plans,  materials,  labor,  etc.  Plans  of 
model  farms  have  also  been  prepared  by  the  agricultural 
societies  in  Belgium.  There  is  a  strong  movement  for 
improving  the  housing  conditions  of  peasants  and  work- 
men. The  latter  in  particular  have  well  deserved  to  be 
the  object  of  special  solicitude  in  the  general  restoration 
of  the  country  on  account  of  their  admirable  patriotism 
and  their  stubborn  resistance  to  the  efforts  of  the  enemy 
to  employ  them  in  war  work. 

The  rebuilding  of  monuments  of  historical  interest  is  a 
very  different  problem.  There  has  been  going  on  for  some 
time  a  discussion  between  Belgian  artists  concerning  the 
advisability  of  reviving  structures  that  have  been  practi- 
cally razed  to  the  ground  by  bombardment  or  fire.  The 
prevalent  view  is  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  restore  them 
and  indulge  in  mere  soulless  replicas.  Only  the  monu- 
ments which  have  preserved  their  general  aspect  and  their 
lines  should  be  repaired  by  using  as  much  as  possible  the 
old  stones.  The  town  council  of  Louvain  has  prepared  a 
fine  plan  to  rebuild  in  a  more  artistic  manner  the  center  of 
the  city  and  to  provide  an  appropriate  frame  to  the  splendid 
city  hall  which  just  escaped  arson  in  1914. 

The  Germans  during  their  occupation  had  tried  to  in- 
duce the  Belgians  to  rebuild  immediately  their  destroyed 
cities,  and  financial  plans  had  been  proposed,  but  on  account 
of  the  uncertainty  of  the  immediate  future  and  of  the  mis- 
trust of  German  supervision  and  German  taste  the  popula- 
tion was  not  interested.  The  Governor  then  gave  an  order 
that  all  ruins  should  be  reduced  to  the  height  of  a  man,  so 
that  the  streets  of  those  burnt-down  places  now  run  between 
two  walls  like  garden  walls. 

The  restoration  of    means    of    communication    has,   of 

57 


course,  even  more  importance  in  reviving  the  economic, 
social,  and  political  activity  of  the  country.  The  destruc- 
tion here  has  gone  very  far.  In  Flanders,  in  the  battle  area 
and  twenty  miles  behind  it,  rails  have  been  cut  into  small 
pieces  and  everything  must  be  built  anew,  which  is  no 
small  problem  in  a  time  when  there  is  no  Belgian  factory 
providing  rails.  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  country  the 
armistice  has  prevented  such  a  thorough  annihilation,  but 
the  tracks  are  in  a  pitiful  state.  Besides,  the  question  of 
the  rolling  stock  is  a  serious  one.  Although  part  of  the 
cars  surrendered  by  Germany  have  gone  to  Belgium,  it 
will  be  some  time  before  the  railroads  are  in  good  working 
condition.  Out  of  her  previous  equipment  Belgium  had 
saved  1900  engines  out  of  4572,  1700  passenger  cars  out 
of  7990,  11,000  freight  cars  out  of  99,435.  All  this  had 
been  stored  during  the  war  at  Oissel  in  France,  but 
part  of  this  rolling  stock  had  been  used  for  the  Belgian 
army  or  lent  to  the  Allies  and  is  in  poor  condition.  It 
is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  during  many  months 
after  the  evacuation,  the  lack  of  means  of  transporta- 
tion seriously  hampered  the  revival  of  the  country.  Few 
lines  could  be  used,  trains  were  very  scarce  and  awfully 
slow.  The  restoration  of  the  postal  and  telegraphic  com- 
munications has  also  been  every  difficult.  Not  till  the 
steel  works  are  fully  at  work  will  the  Belgian  net  of  railroads 
and  local  railways  resume  the  intense  traffic  of  yore. 

In  this  general  reconstruction  of  the  means  of  transporta- 
tion, one  should  not  only  reproduce  a  previous  situation, 
brilHant  as  it  was,  but  try  to  improve  upon  the  past.  The 
Belgian  railroads  had  too  much  traffic  to  handle.  An  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  canals  is  the  best  solution  of  the 
difficulty,  the  more  so  that  it  would  reduce  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation of  raw  materials,  especially  coal.  The  future  of 
Antwerp  is  greatly  involved  in  this  scheme.  A  possible 
reduction  in  German  transit,  which  has  been  repeatedly 

58 


used  as  a  threat  during  the  German  occupation,  should  be 
compensated  by  attracting  the  products  of  the  Lorraine 
mines  and  factories,  through  a  canal  to  be  made  in  the 
Chiers  Valley  connecting  the  Moselle  region  with  the 
Meuse  basin.  •  France  could  also  help  in  the  revival  of  Ant- 
werp's prosperity  by  changing  somewhat  the  tarifT  system 
which  gives  an  artificial  advantage  to  French  harbors  lo- 
cated much  further  from  the  industrial  district  of  northern 
France.  (^Primarily,  however,  the  prosperity  of  Antwerp 
will  depend  upon  the  development  of  the  newly  discovered 
coal  basin  of  Campine,  which  was  almost  ready  for  exploita- 
tion when  the  Germans  ordered  the  boring  of  pits  to  be 
given  up.  These  collieries,  located  near  Antwerp,  together 
with  the  products  of  the  Belgian  industry  when  it  has 
revived,  will  provide  the  return  freight  which  used  to  be 
easily  found  in  Antwerp.) 

Belgian  agriculture  provides  little  for  export  outside 
vegetables  and  sugar.  It  does  not  produce  enough  cereals 
to  feed  the  population.  This  situation  has  been  made 
rather  worse  by  the  war.  To  be  sure,  land  has  enormously 
increased  in  value  during  those  four  years,  but  this  is 
entirely  due  to  the  artificial  situation  created  by  the  high 
prices  reached  by  the  farm  products.  In  fact,  the  produc- 
tivity has  decreased.  The  very  intensive  type  of  cultiva- 
tion in  the  Belgian  fields  cannot  be  maintained  without 
using  fertilizers.  These  have  not  been  provided  during 
the  war,  and  the  ground  is  exhausted.  Horses  for  farm 
work  have  almost  disappeared,  and  cattle  have  become 
scarce.  For  years,  the  efforts  of  the  state,  of  the  agricul- 
tural engineers,  of  the  great  farmers  had  tended  towards 
producing  a  pure  and  sturdy  race  of  cattle.  All  the  results 
of  that  patient  work  are  endangered  at  present  by  the  loss 
of  many  reproducing  animals  which  the  Germans  have 
commandeered  with  the  rest.  Fortunatelv  some  of  these 
animals  were  sent  in  time  to  Holland,  and  it  will  be  pos- 

59 


sible  to  reconstitute  the  race,  but  this  will  be  a  very  long 
process  indeed,  and  for  years  there  will  be  few  cattle  to  kill. 
The  Belgians  will  have  to  import  much  chilled  meat. 

iThe  central  problem  of  restoration,  however,  is  evidently 
the  revival  of  industry.  The  more  Belgium  will  have  to 
buy,  and  she  will  have  to  buy  almost  everything,  the  more 
she  needs  industrial  products  to  give  in  return.  Now, 
through  the  policy  described  in  a  preceding  chapter,  the 
Germans  have  ruined  Belgian  industry  almost  completely. 
The  machines  are  gone,  or  they  are  broken,  deprived  of 
necessary  pieces  in  copper  or  other  metals.  The  buildings 
are  often  damaged.  Raw  materials  are  absent.  If  Bel- 
gium and  northern  France  are  left  in  that  state  for  years, 
Germany  is  rather  a  winner  than  a  loser  in  the  war  game^ 
It  was  comforting,  therefore,  to  hear  President  Wilson  say 
in  his  speech  of  December  2,  191 8,  that  he  will  recommend 
that  the  orders  for  these  regions  be  executed  before  all 
others.  In  view  of  centralizing  purchases  and  avoiding 
duplication,  over-bidding  and  disorder,  the  Belgians  have 
constituted  a  "National  Office  for  the  Restoration  of  Eco- 
nomic Activity  in  Belgium."  It  will  act  as  a  representa- 
tive of  the  industrial  community  in  dealing  with  pro- 
ducers in  foreign  countries.  This  pooling  had  been  advo- 
cated by  important  Belgian  industrial  leaders,  such  as 
Trasenster  and  Ranscelot,  and  by  the  great  firms  of  the 
Charleroi  district.  It  seems  unavoidable  for  the  period 
of  reconstruction,  but  there  is  much  opposition  to  its  main- 
tenance on  the  part  of  the  Liege  manufacturers  and  of  many 
Belgians  who  believe  that  the  success  of  Belgian  industry 
was  due  to  a  system  of  freedom,  congenial  to  the  character 
of  the  people.  A  middle  course  is  likely  to  prevail/  The 
economic  future  of  Belgian  industry  is  essentially  depen- 
dent upon  its  finding  markets^  Irrespective  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  will  ultimately  prevail  in  the  question  of  tariffs, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  provide  a  period  of  transition 

60 


during  which  Germany  will  be  prevented  from  flooding 
the  world  with  her  products  at  the  expense  of  the  countries 
she  has  ruined.  Belgium,  being  a  convalescent  country, 
should  receive  for  the  time  of  recovery  a  privileged  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  friendly  nations,  allowing  her  to  sell 
the  products  of  her  renewed  industry,  which  on  the  other 
hand  should  be  protected  from  a  deadly  competition. 

While  these  arrangements  will  greatly  depend  upon 
measures  decided  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  these  vital  prob- 
lems have  already  been  considered  during  the  war  by  two 
commissions  working  under  the  direction  of  the  Belgian 
Ministry  of  Economic  Affairs  at  Lc  Havre.  Other  com- 
missions have  been  preparing  an  estimation  of  the  war 
damages  and  studying  the  financial  question. 

The  latter  problem  has  come  to  the  fore  now  that  Bel- 
gium is  liberated  and  must  send  to  work  as  soon  as  possible 
the  swarms  of  her  unemployed  laborers  and  in  the  meantime 
feed  them.  Resources  must  be  created  by  means  of  loans. 
These  will  have  to  be  granted  both  on  the  expectation  of  a 
German  indemnity  and  on  the  basis  of  Belgium's  inherent 
resources. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  speak  about  the  amount  of 
money  which  Germany  will  have  to  pay  or  will  be  able  to 
pay,  nor  about  the  mode  of  payment.  The  damage  per- 
petrated in  Belgium  has  a  special  right  for  indemnifica- 
tion, not  only  on  account  of  the  especially  unjust  character 
of  the  aggression,  but  because  it  is  direct  destruction  of 
property,  houses,  or  factories,  confiscation  of  goods  or 
machines,  levying  of  taxes  all  material  losses  susceptible  of 
estimation.  Moreover,  the  indemnity  paid  to  Belgium  is 
not  only  the  quickest  and  surest  means  of  restoring  fully 
the  economic  life  of  that  country,  but  it  will  have  a  great 
moral  significance,  not  only  in  a  general  way,  but  upon  the 
Belgians  in  particular.  While  everything  was  going  wrong 
around    them,   while   all    their   notions   of   morality    were 

6i 


baffled  by  the  conduct  of  the  enemy,  while  they  had  to 
submit  to  the  most  unjust  treatment,  witness  in  cold 
blood  the  annihilation  of  the  efforts  of  generations  by 
plundering  and  destruction,  they  were  always  sustained 
by  their  unshakable  belief  that  justice  would  finally  prevail 
and  that  the  work  of  the  enemy  would  be  undone.  The 
indemnification  by  Germany  herself  is  the  only  satisfaction 
that  can  be  given  to  that  thirst  for  justice,  and  it  will  do 
much  towards  inspiring  confidence  in  the  futiure  in  a  genera- 
tion that  will  have  to  spend  most  of  its  efforts  in  repairing 
what  has  been  unjustly  destroyed.' 

Since,  however,  the  indemnification  may  be  extended 
over  a  long  period,  and  since  the  need  of  recovery  is  urgent, 
credits  and  loans  must  be  obtained  and  this  in  fact 
is  the  chief  preoccupation  of  the  Belgian  Government, 
which  has  so  many  other  problems  to  solve.  The  guar- 
antees which  Belgium  can  offer  to  her  creditors  are,  first 
of  all,  her  good  reputation  as  a  debtor,  her  habits  of 
thriftiness,  industry,  honesty,  the  skill  of  her  engineers, 
glassmakers,  and  lacemakers  trained  for  centuries  in  their 
delicate  tasks.  There  is,  moreover,  the  fertility  of  the 
great  plains  of  Central  Belgiimi,  the  lime,  the  marble,  the 
porphyry  of  its  quarries,  the  coal  of  its  mines.  New  veins 
have  been  found  some  years  ago  south  of  the  Hainault 
mines  and  the  Campine  basin,  which  is  much  more  impor- 
tant, will  in  a  few  years  double  the  yearly  jrield  of  coal  in 
Belgium.  (The  new  basin  is  supposed  to  contain  eight  bil- 
lion tons  of  coal  and,  if  so,  represents  more  than  the  Ger- 
man debt  to  Belgiimi.)  The  Congo  colony,  saved  from  the 
German  greed,  and  now  ready  for  a  normal  exploitation 
after  completion  of  important  railroad  lines  is  another 
asset,  the  possibilities  of  which,  as  aforesaid,  are  not  yet 
gauged. 

Belgium  is,  therefore,  no  beggar.  She  is  resolved  to 
approach  on  a  business  basis  the  powers  who  will  help  her 

63 


in  this  critical  hour.  These  resources,  however,  while  im- 
portant as  a  guarantee  to  a  loan,  are  not  immediately  avail- 
able for  actual  work  of  reconstruction  and  for  the  feeding 
of  the  people.  The  real  revival  of  Belgium  is  not  to  be 
expected  before  a  long  time.  Since  the  armistice  has  been 
signed,  many  complications  of  the  problem  have  been  dis- 
closed and  this  chapter  is  necessarily  very  incomplete. 
Moreover,  there  are  many  losses  which  cannot  be  directly 
made  good  for  by  way  of  loans,  purchases,  rebuilding,  etc. 
The  period  of  occupation  has  taxed  enormously  the 
population  with  privations,  forced  labor,  deportation,  etc. 
It  is  still  premature  to  attempt  an  estimate  of  the  de- 
crease of  the  population,  of  the  reduction  of  efficiency  of 
labor,  of  the  chronic  diseases  which  have  set  in  everywhere. 
Numberless  tuberculous  persons  and  a  great  many  invalids 
of  the  war  will  need  special  care.  Among  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  returned  to  devastated  areas  or  deprived  of  their 
former  resources,  there  is  an  infinite  variety  of  distress  and 
many  unsolved  problems  for  which  private  initiative  wall 
have  a  large  field  of  action.  But  there  is  a  will  to  help 
one  another;  there  is,  in  spite  of  some  bewilderment  in  the 
presence  of  such  an  intricate  situation,  a  firm  will  to  revive 
and  to  hand  over  to  the  next  generation  a  Belgium  worthy 
of  her  past. 


63 


The  Future  of  Belgium 

There  is  much  more  involved  in  the  restoration  of  Bel- 
gium than  the  return  to  normal  life  of  a  group  of  seven 
millions  of  persons  whose  means  of  existence  have  been 
seriously  endangered  by  the  war.  There  are  important 
principles  concerned  in  it.  Deschanel  has  said  that 
' '  Belgium  is  not  only  the  stake  of  the  great  conflict  but  the 
pawn  of  international  justice."  Gladstone  in  1870  had 
already  said  that  "The  absorption  of  Belgium  in  order  to 
satisfy  voracious  appetites  would  be  sounding  the  knell 
of  public  and  international  law."  These  statements  refer 
primarily  to  the  unique  situation  of  Belgium — inasmuch  as 
her  independence  was  pledged  by  all  the  powers  and  bound 
them  together  in  a  solemn  contract  which  may  be  consid- 
ered as  the  first  step  towards  a  league  of  nations.  But 
moreover  the  problem  of  Belgium  was  typical  of  all  those 
weaker  nations  which  should  be  entitled  to  the  rights  of 
existence.  According  to  the  German  theory,  the  people 
of  the  second  and  third  ranks  are  miserable  and  despicable 
institutions  which  are  more  dangerous  to  peace  than  the 
larger  states.  They  should  be  suppressed.^  This  theory 
is  consistent  with  the  German  conception  of  an  imperialistic 
organization  of  the  world  resulting  from  the  victory  and 
the  domination  of  the  fittest  race  and  the  strongest  sovereign 
state.  Events  have  dealt  a  crushing  blow  to  that  Darwin- 
istic  construction,  inherited  from  the  nineteenth  century 
conceptions.  Cooperation,  which  is  found  in  nature  even 
more  than  the  struggle  for  life,  is  the  idea  that  will  inspire 

'U.  Rauscher,  Voss.  Zeit,  Feb.  11,  19 17. 

64 


the  twentieth  century's  thinking.  In  its  extreme  form — 
both  mystical  and  anarchistic — it  ignores  all  difTerences 
between  men,  and  believes  in  a  unified  and  homogeneous 
community.  In  its  more  rational  expression,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  takes  the  nations  as  the  real  units,  and  the  national 
components  of  the  great  international  .society.  So  speaks 
Georges  Renard,  among  tiie  Socialists:  "The  great  struc- 
ture which  we  wish  to  build — vast  enough  to  contain  the 
whole  human  race — will  have  nations  as  its  pillars.  It 
will  rest  on  their  strong  foundations,  which  have  been 
cemented  by  the  labor  of  ages,  and  whose  destruction  would 
bring  about  its  own  ruin."  The  Catholic  conception  is 
strikingly  similar:  "Every  nation  and  state,"  says  Weiss, 
"has  a  right  to  existence  in  order  to  perform  its  own  tasks 
but  occupies  only  a  subordinate  position  in  the  society  of 
mankind." 

Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  the  first  concrete  realiza- 
tion of  that  conception,  at  the  present  moment,  it  is  unde- 
niable that  the  minds  of  the  people  are  turned  in  that 
direction.  In  that  great  society  of  nations,  the  small 
peoples  should  be  accepted  as  welcome  associates.  In 
mankind,  as  in  nature,  development  and  progress  are 
inseparable  from  diversity;  and  it  is  through  the  variety  of 
racial  aptitudes  that  mankind  can  best  realize  its  maximum 
of  potentialities.  More  nations  mean  more  autonomous 
centers  with  cultures  of  their  own,  more  opportunities  for 
capable  men  to  reach  the  higher  and  more  independent 
positions  in  society.  It  implies  more  sacred  inheritances 
and  ancient  glory  to  live  up  to,  more  national  honors  to 
inspire  effort  and  talent,  more  chances  given  for  fruitful  ideas 
to  find  a  field  of  experiment.  The  loss  of  an  original  cul- 
ture is  unreplaceable  and  such  loss  unavoidable,  at  least  to 
a  great  extent,  when  small  countries  are  included  in  strongly 
constituted  greater  states. 

While  this  is  true  of  all  small  nationalities,  it  applies  in 

65 


a  much  greater  degree  to  Belgium,  because  of  her  especially 
interesting  and  beneficent  national  characteristics.  She 
has  played  an  important  part  in  the  development  of  civil- 
ization; and  therefore  she  should  be  allowed  to  play  the 
same  r61e  in  the  future.  Belgium  is  the  melting  pot  in 
which  northern  mentality  has  been  reconciled  with  the 
spirit  of  the  nations  which  have  more  directly  inherited 
ancient  civilization.  She  was  a  great  factor  in  the  very 
beginning  of  our  civilization;  then  she  became  the  real 
center  of  the  Prankish  kingdom,  and  more  especially  the 
cradle  of  the  Carolingian  family  which  gave  Charlemagne 
to  Europe,  the  first  great  figure  of  modern  times  and  the  first 
great  Belgian.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  when  Gothic  architecture 
and  French  literature  penetrated  into  Germany  through 
the  Low  Countries,  Belgium  still  exerted  a  beneficent  influ- 
ence on  civilization.  Again  in  the  sixteenth  century  when 
Lou  vain  became  the  northern  center  of  humanism,  Flem- 
ish artists  developed  an  original  and  powerful  interpretation 
of  the  renaissance  movement.  In  our  own  times  also  Belgian 
poets  have  enriched  French  literature;  Verhaeren  with  his 
Flemish  impetuosity,  Maeterlinck  and  the  other  Belgian 
symbolists  by  injecting  Flemish  mysticism  into  modem 
verse.  Flanders  also  rejuvenated  Dutch  literatiu"e  by  in- 
fusing it  with  the  rich  inspiration  of  the  West-Flemish 
school. 

This  part  of  being  a  medium  between  two  main  types  of 
mentalities  in  the  modem  world  is  not  negligible;  but 
perhaps  Belgian's  most  important  contribution  is  to  be 
found  in  her  democratic  ideals,  inaugurated  in  the  Flemish 
communes  and  so  stubbornly  defended  against  all  tyrannies 
until  they  found  a  splendid  realization  in  the  very  liberal 
constitution  of  1830.  Since  then,  Belgium  has  admirably 
taken  advantage  of  her  privileged  situation  by  making 
herself  a  pioneer  in  solving  many  problems  of  the  modem 
world.     The  great  French  geographer,  Elis^e  Reclus,  has 

66 


called  her  "  the  field  of  experiment  for  Europe."  In  a  book 
written  in  1910,  Henri  Charriaut  proclaims  that  "the  Bel- 
gian nation  has  by  degrees  placed  herself  at  the  vanguard 
of  the  movement  for  better  social  conditions;  and  this 
conscious  and  persistent  impulse  towards  progress  is  what 
makes  her  eminently  interesting."'  Belgium  conceives 
this  progress  as  a  means  of  furthering  all  her  powers— her 
material  resources  and  her  ajsthetic  and  spiritual  aspira- 
tions. She  wants  to  produce  more  and  ever  more,  but  she 
believes  in  combining  efficiency  with  freedom.  This  is 
why  Belgium  deserves  to  live;  this  is  the  great  work  which 
has  been  so  brutally  interrupted  by  the  German  invasion. 
The  most  urgent  problem  for  Belgium  at  present  is  to  re- 
vive ;  but  amid  her  pressing  needs  she  is  busily  engaged  in 
rebuilding  her  national  life  on  a  stronger  basis.  She  has 
scornfully  thrown  off  the  suffocating  mantle  of  guaranteed 
neutrality  which  proved  to  be  only  a  fallacious  protection. 
She  has  already  courageously  attacked  important  problems, 
such  as  a  further  extension  of  suffrage,  the  eradication  of 
alcoholism,  the  suppression  of  injustice  against  the  Flemish 
language. 

If  Belgium  is  not  disappointed  in  her  hopes,  if  nothing 
interferes  with  the  speedy  restoration  of  her  economic  life, 
if  she  receives  from  the  friendly  nations  a  benevolent  treat- 
ment during  the  period  of  reconstruction,  she  will  have 
won  in  this  war  a  greater  consciousness  of  her  national 
destinies,  and  she  will  be  an  active  partner  in  the  League 
of  Free  Nations,  in  which  she  will  see  the  final  realization  of 
a  conception  which  she  introduced  into  the  world. 

'  Henri  Charriaut,  Belgique  Modeme,  p.  i. 


67 


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